The Watcher
by taylorjsomeday
Summary: Sequel to the Witness: Now that Bella knows her sister is alive nothing can stop her from finding her. Alice must deal with not only her sensitivity to humans but the approach of her sister, her wedding, and the Volturi- which should she fear more?
1. Preface

**Preface:**

Time. Time is the most inescapable thing in the universe. No matter what you do, time won't change—not even if you want it to. Time is irritatingly unstoppable. For humans, time is age; growing, and living their lives to the fullest in the limited amount that they are allowed. For my kind, time can be both nothing and everything. I know this for sure, because I have heard of those of my kind who spend their endless existence completely carefree and untroubled. Then there are vampires like me—the ones who spend every second of that "endless" existence knowing that that their time is running out before you can even get your chance to enjoy it. That's the problem with being able to see the future: You will always know exactly what time will bring, but you know there is absolutely _nothing _that you can do about it. What happens with time is inevitable.

I had been concerned with time a lot lately. I had moments where I wished that time would go faster and this pace of my existence would just expedite. I longed for this period of complete vulnerability to be over and done with, so I could go on to enjoy the more important things that came with my existence. I thought about a time in the future where I wouldn't have to worry about this kind of thing anymore.

Then, considering other factors, there were moments where I would wish that time would just slow down. What I desired most was that the events I knew to be inevitable wouldn't be approaching so soon. I didn't understand how time could seem to go so fast when something horrible was about to happen, yet creep along slowly at the thought of a better future—a better future that I wouldn't get to see. The unavoidable doom looming ahead of us was much closer than the light at the end of the tunnel. Our light was gone...

Except for right now, of course. Right now was one of those rare moments where I wished that time would just stop. If I could just freeze this moment and live here forever, I would be perfectly content. As I step forward, looking up into the golden eyes of the man I love, I know that this is one of the moments that keep vampires like me going, despite knowing what the future holds. This is the kind of moment where everything seems to be going perfectly, even when I know better. Because, deep in the back of my mind, I know that perfect never lasts. The future is never perfect, because time is a fickle thing. Here, in this moment, I had everything I could ever ask for and more, but- with a quick reminder of the future- I knew that this is the last perfect moment of my existence. And there is nothing I can do to stop it.

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Important Author's Note: Please let me know what you think of the preface, I was very hesitant about this. My co-author is in Africa and I don't have the patience to wait for her approval, so this preface is very subject to change. I warn you now. But! If you thought the preface was good, I can skip the process and tell my co-author that the readers enjoyed what I had written! Yay!

Just FYI to any new readers: This is the sequel to _The Witness_, and you will most likely not be able to follow this unless you have read that. There are probably too many out of canon plot points for you to be able to just read the sequel. By all means, find the story on my profile and read it! Hope you enjoy it, and I hope I'll be seeing you in the sequel soon!

To those of you who have read the first installment and are ready for this one, please go on ahead. I hope everyone enjoys the beginning of _The Watcher. _I guess we'll see where it's going from here...


	2. I'm Coming for You

**Hello everyone! **

**I want to say first off that I'm very glad of the respose just the preface received! Favorites and alerts keep popping up in my email and I'm like, "O.o? Are you kidding me? (not that I object) Only the preface is up and you guys are already favoriting! Eeeep!" I love all you awesome reviewers/favoriters/alerters/readers! You guys make this thing worth writing.**

**So, this is the first chapter of a rather long journey. I've actually had it written for a few days, but I had to wait for my co-author to return from Africa (she had a great time by the way) and then I had to practically force her to edit because she was complaining about our rigorous school schedule (three days into school, and I've already had a quiz. -_-) Hope everyone who started school had a good start, I know I did! **

**Hope the chapter helps let you de-stress from school! I know it helps me (especially since I'm delaying AP History homework... heehee)**

**Keep Reading! Reviews are wanted and graciously accepted with squeals of happiness. ^_^**

**-TG**

**Oh, P.S. I mentioned some things from Alice's letter in the epilogue, so I included Alice's letter at the beginning of the chapter. This way, you don't have to look back!**

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_Previously in "The Witness:"_

_My Bella,_

_I want you to know that I love you so much, and I always will. For all of eternity, I'll never forget you. You are my sister and my best friend. That will never change, even when we're apart._

_You should know that I am alive and happy and in love with the best man in the world- in the universe. Now I know what you're thinking: And- No -I didn't run off and get married in Vegas like some small-town girl. (And I'm not pregnant either) This is so much more than that... I can't even explain it. This is just where I'm meant to be._

_What's happened to me I can't say, but I know I'd never want this for you. I'd never want to hurt you like this, and I promise that I never will. I'm looking at my curse as a blessing as much as I can, but I regret every day that I can never see you again. And that's just it- I can never see you again. I know this is hard, because it's killing me to write this. You can never come looking for me, no matter how much you want to see me or I want to see you._

_Speaking of me "seeing you", you should know that my "gift" is stronger than ever. I will know if you try to find me, so don't. I'm watching you and looking out for you. Since it's the best I can do, I'll be your guardian angel. I will never let anything happen to you, if I can help it. (And I can)_

_I've left this note along with the outfit that I got for you so long ago. I hope you knock 'em dead! You are so beautiful that I don't think anyone will be able to resist you._

_Your best friend and sister for life,,_

_Alice_

_P.S. Take care of Charlotte for me. I miss her too, but not a fraction of how much I miss you_

Chapter 1- Leaving

Bella POV

I supposed that speeding at 25 miles over the given speed limit towards home in a huge, blatantly conspicuous red truck was not the smartest thing I could've have been doing on the first day of sophomore year. This was especially stupid considering the horrible guilt gnawing at me from the inside due to the fact that I had never sped more than five miles over the speed limit in my life. Well, I'll admit, I had only turned sixteen two weeks ago, so that wasn't saying much. Still, the completely noticeable nature of my car added to the fact that I was a brand new and previously law-abiding driver seems to just scream "pull me over, pull me over!". Yeah, this was definitely a stupid idea. Right now I could- and should- be at school, spending my sophomore year working hard to get good grades and hopefully get into a college without requiring my parents to make an "anonymous" donation of an incomprehensible amount of money. But, despite all of my trepidation, I knew it was way too late to turn back now. I was too far gone to even considering playing ignorant to what had happened at school. Alice's note, crinkled from my frequent folding and unfolding as the urge to read it emerged regularly, felt like it would burn a hole where it rested in my pocket. I was constantly aware of where it was. _No, _I thought, reminded of the letter. _There's no turning back from here._

I went over the note in my mind, having memorized it already, trying to find some deeper meaning behind her words. I thought about the wonderful man she mentioned, wondering if she had known she would meet this guy all along. Maybe she had abandoned me knowing that she would find the love of her life in the process. I shook my head. That didn't sound at all like Alice. Alice hadn't believed in the kind of love you see in movies and read in books, completely unlike me. I was completely obsessed with romance; at least, the kind that I read in books, like Wuthering Heights and Austen's stories. Alice hadn't been like that, so it surprised me to hear that she classified herself as having found the love of her life, while being above clichéd small-town romance. She had said it herself: she was where she was meant to be. I shook my head again. It didn't fit. Before she had left, Alice had said that she was meant to be wherever I was. I was all that had really mattered to her. I supposed that I had to share that place in Alice's heart now. I wasn't angry with Alice or jealous of the mystery man, but I just didn't understand the rest of her letter. What had she meant by her "curse?" If her man was so amazing, why did she have to hurt herself to be with him? None of this made sense. That was exactly why I had to find Alice. I just had to know that she was OK. I had to be with her, to confirm what her letter had already told me; that she was alive and happy. I could only hope that my presence in her life again would make her as happy as it would make me.

I swerved through the wide streets of my neighborhood, not noticing the huge, elaborate mansions as they passed by every few seconds. Finally, I pulled up to one of the largest houses in the neighborhood; the ridiculously enormous brick estate that I had lived in for the past eight years. For a moment I was about to pull into the front drive way that circled around past the front door. Then, realizing my dilemma, I circled around the house until I approached the drive way that led to the back of the house and the garage. I parked my truck exactly where it had been only a few hours ago, looking around to see if the limo was still in its place. I supposed that today was my lucky day because it appeared my parents were out—although, this wasn't exactly a rare occurrence. My parents were always out. I never thought my parents' social lives would ever be so critically important to finding Alice. I turned away from the cars, darting into the house. I ran up the back staircase, but, the moment my foot reached for the staircase, I tripped_. _I fell on my hands, avoiding hitting my head against the unforgiving surface of the hardwood stairs. I pulled myself up, shaking my head. Only I could trip _up_stairs. I feared this part more than the rest of my whole journey—the trip upstairs. If I couldn't get past the second step without tripping, I obviously couldn't make it up three stories worth of stairs. I'm surprised my parents hadn't installed an elevator for me yet. Well, it was too late for that now. This was hopefully the last time I would have to climb these godforsaken stairs.

I finally made it to the third floor, though I had tripped three more times in the process. As soon as I made it to my room, I grabbed an old duffel bag out of my closet, throwing any clothes I saw in the process—all dirty clothes, I might add. The whole rebellious teenager washing her own clothes thing was certainly coming back to bite me today. I threw my bag of toiletries on the top, grabbed a bobby pin, and left my room. I ran a little ways down the hallway until I was at Alice's door. I gulped a little, not having entered this room in a year. It was probably covered in an inch thick layer of dust after being neglected for so long. That was my fault. I should have taken care of it better, even if my mother didn't want me to go in that room. I shook my head, and picked the lock silently. When I finally got in the room, I was almost surprised that it hadn't changed a bit since the last I had been in here. I looked at the huge stack of boxes in the corner, noting that the third box on the middle row was half-open just like I had left it. I walked over to that box, reaching in until I found one of Alice's many purses. Unlike her other purses, this one was important to me. I didn't bother searching through it, instead throwing it over my shoulder. I made for the door, but stopped. For one last time, I reached into the box, drawing out a silver picture frame with Alice's and my picture in it. I tucked the picture frame into the pocket of my duffel bag and left the room, not bothering to close the door behind me.

When I finally made it downstairs, this time being more careful since falling down three flights of stairs was not what I needed right now, I encountered a dilemma. When my mother found out I was missing, she would call the police. They would search for me, tell other police to search for me, and they would probably find me. No one could find me. Deciding what to do quickly, I went to the study. I grabbed some stationary out of one of the cabinets over my mother's desk. I thought for a moment about what to write before writing the first thing that came to mind. It had to be something that would truly make her let me leave without interference. I looked over it one last time, reading it to make sure it was sufficient.

_Mom,_

_I'm leaving. I'm sorry I can't say goodbye, but I had to go. You know how unhappy I've been for the past two years, and staying in this house is not going to help. I love you, mom, but I can't go on like this anymore. I'll be fine, so please don't try to find me. Just know I'll be so much happier once I'm away from this city. Please, just let me go. _

_Bella_

I sighed, sealing the letter in the envelope. As a last minute thought, I went over to my father's desk, opening one of the bottom cabinets to reveal a safe. I rolled the lock until I met the corresponding numbers of the combination. It opened, revealing a few important documents, my father's expensive watches, and what I was in need for; stacks and stacks of money. There was so much money here that I doubted my father would miss it very much. Besides, I needed it more than he did. I grabbed two stacks of it, estimating high. All I new was that it had to be a lot of money because each bill in the stack was a hundred dollar bill. I didn't look at the money, afraid of how much was actually in my hand. I stuffed the money into the bottom of Alice's purse, noting that there was a can of pepper spray there as well. I laughed at the irony—a sixteen year old girl with thousands of dollars in her purse? Yeah, I might need to use that can.

Before I left, I saw a notebook on the side of my mother's desk. I flipped through the pages, noticing that there was nothing written inside. I grabbed a pen and took the notebook, deciding that, if nothing else, doodling could keep me occupied when I wasn't driving. I put those in my bag as well, and figured I was finally ready to go. I left my mother's note on the coffee table in the living room and went back out the door to the garage. I walked through the garage to the very corner, bypassing my truck completely. This would have to be goodbye for my truck and me. It had been one of the rare gifts that I actually liked, though it was over extravagant in my opinion. While I would miss it, it was three things I did not need; blatantly conspicuous (as previously mentioned), huge, and not at all gas efficient. I needed something that wouldn't guzzle gas like my big red monster.

I put my hand the rough fabric of the cover, almost afraid to see what condition Alice's car was in, like I had been with her room. I pulled it off quickly, like ripping off a band-aid. I sighed in relief when Alice's car hadn't changed either. It was dim in the garage, and there was probably some accumulated dust covering it, but I was sure that once I got it out of here it would look just as glossy and fast as ever. I gulped a little. I supposed that if I wanted to get anywhere quickly, I would have to drive fast. While this car was more than adequate when it came to driving fast, I, on the other hand, was not. I hated driving fast. I was a martinet when it came to driving laws. Nevertheless, I fished the keys from Alice's purse, certain that they hadn't been taken from the purse since we had found it in the trunk of her car.

I tested the button on the key, making sure that it unlocked before I opened the driver's side door. When I sat down, I was taken back a little. I actually had to adjust the seat back a lot to fit my legs under the steering wheel, which surprised me. Had Alice actually been that short? I was average height, but I had always remembered Alice as being taller than me. I suppose since it had been two years since I had been next to her, and whenever I had been with her she had been wearing those gigantic heels that made me trip just looking at them. Now, however, it seemed that I would look down at her even if she did wear heels. I shook my head at my wandering thoughts and threw my duffel bag and Alice's purse in the passenger seat. When I started the car, the engine's low hum came out as a purr, though I'm sure someone as lacking in car knowledge as I probably couldn't appreciate it like a car savvy person could.

I released the emergency brake and waited, testing my limits. I hesitantly put my foot on the break and switched gears, almost expecting the car to eject me from the driver's seat, as if only Alice could ever drive this car. Then I lifted my foot off the brake slowly, sighing with relief when it moved slowly in reverse towards the open door of the garage. When I curved out of the garage until I was facing out of the driveway, I hit a button on the visor signaling the garage door to close. I couldn't have my parents automatically suspicious when they returned home, could I? I sat for a few seconds, silently wondering why I was having so much trouble comprehending driving Alice's car. I shook my head, and finally just slammed the gas pedal. I lurched forward, panicking as I realized the reaction time of this little thing. Luckily, our driveway was plenty long enough to give me room to stop. Sighing, I nudged the pedal down and pulled out of the drive way. Finally telling myself that this car wasn't alive and therefore would not have the power to know who I was or how wrong it was for me to be driving it, I finally became comfortable enough to drive.

As I pulled out of the neighborhood and onto the main road, I could sense a lurking sense of hopelessness creeping up on me. I slowed down to the speed limit as my body stiffened; the hopelessness almost had me. If another second of this feeling passed, I'd have to pull over. I waited for a few seconds, my hands gripping the steering wheel until the knuckles turned white. Finally, unable to take it anymore, I pulled onto the side of the road. I didn't have the radio on, so, once the car was stopped, the only sound was the rushing of cars as they passed me and my shallow breaths. Normally, I would put my head between my knees when I felt something close to anxiety, but this time there was a steering wheel in my way. I rested my head on the wheel and worked on keeping my breaths slow and even. Finally, once my mini anxiety attack seemed to settle down, I was able to think about what had caused the hopeless feeling in the first place.

The accusing questions in my mind emerged: What did I think I was doing? Was I crazy enough to actually believe I could honestly find my sister based off only a very uninformative letter—well, I suppose that was a lie. Alice's letter had told me the most important thing it could have possibly revealed; the fact that Alice was alive. It had also told me that she was in love and that she had some curse that I knew practically nothing about and also that I wasn't allowed to go looking for her (A little detail I had purposefully chosen to ignore). Still, despite all the nice tidbits about Alice I had acquired with her letter, I had not received the second most consequential thing (the first being the fact she was actually alive) I could have discovered. And that was where exactly I could find Alice. In truth, I didn't even need exact location or coordinates. I would have settled for a clue or even a state—any indication that I could follow instead of walking blindly into this. The fact of the matter - I had a one in a million chance of finding Alice. She could've been anywhere when she had written that letter. Who knows where she could be now? I thought about that, knowing there was no way to know where Alice was and knowing there was no way to let Alice know I was looking for her… I blinked in shock, the light bulb practically emerging over my head and shedding its insight onto my dampened thoughts. A particular line in Alice's note replayed in my mind; _I will know if you try to find me._ A hint of a smile played at the corner of my lips as I realized what that meant. I might not know where Alice was, but she would know I was looking for her. I grinned now, confident with my plan. As long as she knew I was looking for her, it wouldn't be too long until she would have to do something to stray my useless wandering. So, in theory, all I had to do was amble around the country wherever I pleased until Alice felt the need to step in. Of course, it would only help speed up the process if I were to run into a little trouble along the way…

I chuckled deviously and unzipped my duffel bag, taking out the notebook and pen I had stashed away inside. I rested the notebook on the steering wheel and flipped it open to the first empty page, thinking about what I would write. Placing the pen point on the blank, lined piece of paper, I wrote only five words:

_Alice-_

_I'm coming for you._

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**Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! I don't know how long it will take for the next chapter. I have everything pretty much mapped out in my mind, but I need to discuss some major plot points with Alex, the co-author! I'll update as soon as possible, I promise. **


	3. A New Life

**Hello everyone!**

**Sorry for the loooong wait, but as always, I've been uber busy. I just got back from New York City a few days ago, and it was AMAZING! I saw Wicked on Broadway, which was phenomenal! My beta/co-author Alex went with me, and we had a marvelous time. I've had the majority of this chapter done for the past few weeks, but I just couldn't finish it up well. Finally did it though... during Chemistry class I believe. (Hate Chemistry)**

**Enjoy! Read and review!**

**-TG**

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Chapter 2- A New Life

Alice Point of View

I could feel the energy accumulating instantaneously in my calf and quad muscles, preparing to launch my body into the air until I could be considered flying. My legs bent only slightly at the knees, though I knew it didn't require even that much strain in order to jump over the short fifty meters from one area of land to the next. Finally, though the time of my thoughts had only lasted a fraction of a second, my calves stretched and expanded, shooting me forward into the air. It seemed like I was tumbling through the air in slow motion, the rushing water of the river flowing beneath me without threatening to come close to me while I was this high over the surface. These moments, where I could feel like I was lighter than air, no longer held down by constant burdens, were some of the best moments of my existence. I laughed, enjoying the sound, but no longer baffled by the light trilling noise that came from me. I was accustomed to these things now, so they were no longer strange or foreign to me. I somersaulted through the air, relishing in the feeling of the warm air whipping around my hair and cheeks. After a few rotations through the air, I finally returned to upright position just in time for my shoes to come into contact with the soft ground on the other side of the river. I focused my weight onto the front of my feet, so as not to break the thin, fragile heels of my shoes.

I didn't pause to regain my balance or wait for the muffled _thud_ that would signal that he had landed as well. I immediately raced forward toward the bronze-haired boy up ahead. He was so fast that it was frustrating to be unable to catch with. There were very few things I could not outrun; not even Olympic runners, horses, cars, or even trains for that matter, but under no circumstances could I outrun Edward. I heard Jasper's feet hit the ground behind me as he followed us, but I didn't turn back or slow down to wait for his approach. I narrowed my eyes in determination and tried to pump my legs a little faster, work my muscles a little more, use the very, very small amount of newborn strength I had left to propel myself a little farther with each stride. I heard Edward's deep laugh up ahead, and I knew he could sense the competitiveness in my mind. Sensing this, he sped up even faster, and I knew my attempts were more than futile. I was no match for Edward.

Finally, giving up on my efforts, I listened to see how far behind me Jasper was. I was surprised that he was farther than I had remembered, but I supposed that it was due to my fierce determination to run as fast as Edward. I slowed a little to wait for him, and he immediately sensed my purpose, speeding his pace until he matched my stride. We were running much slower than we were capable of, not really caring anymore to speed off ahead like Edward. Edward was long out of our range of sight, so we slowed to a jogging pace, simply enjoying each other's company.

"How long do you think it will take him to slow down, this time?" I asked, though I knew the answer already and laughed a little, knowing what Jasper would say. He scoffed, knowing as well as I that Edward _never _slowed down. He had exactly three speeds: Fast, faster, and stopped. Slow may be in his extensive vocabulary, but it was a rare occasion to hear him use the word beyond something along the lines of 'You're too slow.' or 'I hate driving slow.'

Jasper answered my question, none the less, as he always did. "Trust me, for I know from personal experience in this particular area; Edward won't slow down until he finds a reason to stop and realize how great existence really is." I smiled at his words, amazed that one person could be so sweet. I reached up and pecked him on the lips, not hindering the pace of our jog. He smiled beneath my lips, and I was sure he was right. I sort of felt bad for Edward. Carlisle has Esme. Carlisle had tried to pair Rosalie with Edward, but neither had been particularly interested in the other. When Rosalie had found Emmett in the 1930's, Edward had once again been the fifth wheel. Then, Jasper and I had joined the Cullens two years ago, and Edward was even more the odd one out. I was by far the youngest in our family, appearing only seventeen and actually being nineteen years old. Jasper appeared 21 or older, but in truth he was over two hundred years old. He had seen more than my eyes could ever hope to have seen. The same went for Carlisle, who appeared to be no more than twenty-four, but had actually existed for almost four hundred years. Though Esme was seventy or so years old and appeared only twenty-three, it seemed like she was older than all but Carlisle. She was so maternal to us, including Jasper and I almost instantly as though she was our real mother. Not being able to remember my own mother, Esme was the most closest person to a parental figure I could ask for. Of course, Emmett was so huge that he could pass for twenty-eight or so and Rosalie was so remarkable beautiful that you wouldn't believe that she was anything but an angel from heaven (This made me laugh now that I knew Rosalie like a sister and a best friend. She was _far_ from angelic.) Rosalie and Emmett were both over sixty years old though. I was like a baby to all these people, but some how I had managed to fit perfectly in as a Cullen as though there had been a spot open for Jasper and I all along.

I thought back to our previous conversation and spoke, "That's the problem with Edward, though. He needs someone to slow him down, but how can he find that person if he passes them up? He'll never be able to slow down long enough to find that person?" I was overcome with a vision suddenly.

_Edward sat at his piano, playing a slow beautiful melody that sounded so soothing that it could practically make a vampire fall asleep. I had never heard this piece before, and I was sure I had heard everything Edward had ever played and remembered it by heart. He smiled slowly, a smile that I had seen many times before, but never on this face. Edward actually looked completely, utterly content—as if nothing in the world could make him happier than he was right then. I had seen the same expression on Jasper's face when he looked at me, on Emmett's face when he looked at Rosalie, and Carlisle's face when he looked at Esme. This expression was one that could only be seen when a man loves a woman so irrevocably that he knows that she is everything he could ever need or want. That expression was one that had never been present on Edward's face before. _

_I knew exactly what was happening in this vision, but I was annoyed with its limitations. Though I tried desperately to expand the line of sight in the vision, it would not budge. I could only see Edward at his grand piano, that expression clear, but I could not see who he was so intently and affectionately gazing at. I cursed under my breath in real life, straining to push the boundaries of my vision. Nothing. It was almost as if my vision was taunting my cynical thoughts. I had thought that Edward would never fall in love, so my vision proved me wrong but left me completely ignorant to the object of Edward's future affections. I frowned and let go of the vision._

"Hmm…" I muttered curiously. That would be another thing I'd have to look to the future for. I already had an accumulating pile of things to worry about in the future. Though this seemed like a lesser priority, I was way too excited about this to simply let it go. I couldn't let Edward know… How should I keep him in the dark about this one?

"What annoys… or, I suppose, confuses you? What did you see in your vision?" Jasper's talents still amazed me, how he could sense and remember everything I felt. Every girl asked for a sensitive guy who could appropriately sense her feelings, but Jasper was the only one who could literally always know what I was feeling. I smiled knowingly, wondering if I should tell him and risk his thoughts about the matter getting to Edward. Still, it was too exciting. This kind of information needed to be told. I _had_ to tell someone about this.

"Oh… um, _nothing…" _I said in a sing-song voice. Jasper smirked in amusement and. Without missing a stride, picked me up bridal style. He kissed up my jaw bone, teasingly avoiding my mouth, which was pulled into a playful pout. Finally, after he kissed my nose, I couldn't hold in my giggle any longer. I covered my face, shielding it from his constant kisses. "Ok! Ok! Ok! I'll tell you, I'll tell you!" More giggling from me, and he smirked in triumph, the arrogant dog. I peered through the cracks between my fingers, seeing if I was safe from another onslaught of his kisses. I grinned beneath my palm, payback forming in my mind. Without hesitation, I moved my hands from my cheeks to his, pulling my face to his until his lips had no choice but to meet mine, not that he was opposed to kissing me. If he was going to get information from me, I got my reward. He couldn't get away _that_ easy. I couldn't have him thinking he could get anything he wanted from me now, could I?

As we broke away from the kiss, I couldn't hold the information any longer. As soon as my mouth was available for speech, I blurted out, "Edward's going to fall in love!!" Jasper's cocky grin vanished. Out of everything I could have possibly seen, he had not been expecting _that._ My mouth turned into a satisfied smirk at my ability to shock him, for Jasper was not easily surprised.

"With _whom?!_" He asked incredulously. I giggled, though this was a half-hearted attempt. I felt sort of bad for the man I now considered my brother, as I was closer to Edward than I was to any one else in our little vampire family—apart from Jasper of course. Was it really that unbelievable that he was capable of such a complex emotion as love? Was it so astonishing that Edward could feel something beyond boredom, anger, and masochism? I chuckled to myself a little at the last emotion. Jasper's brow furrowed in frustration as I did not immediately answer him.

I furrowed mine as well with a different frustration. I _hated_ any blind spots in my visions, and this particular one was shielding some very juicy information from me. I groaned, aggravated. "Ugh… I don't know! I couldn't see her…"

"Well at least we know it is a _her_…" He quipped, and I blinked once in shock. Had Jasper just implied the question of Edward's heterosexuality? Realizing quickly that he indeed had, I looked at him dubiously. He grinned sheepishly, and I whacked him on the shoulder (and not lightly, I might add).

"Jasper Whitlock Cullen, how could you say that?!" He laughed, shrugging and kissing my forehead before setting my back on my feet. I blinked again, realizing something. "Well, actually, now that I think about it, I didn't see the other person at all… but it was a she, I'm sure of it! EDWARD IS NOT GAY!" I yelled, not realizing that the subject of our conversation had stepped through the trees in front of us.

I looked at him in horror as his eye brow rose in question. I couldn't tell if he was angry, though there was no reason to be mad at me; I had been defending his masculinity, while Jasper had called him a homosexual. Still… if he killed my fiancée, I would have to be mad at him. "I'm not mad at you Alice, and I'm not going to kill Jasper unless he gives me reason to." I sighed in relief, and mumbled a quick _thanks_ in my thoughts, though I was still worried what he would think after he caught the drift of our previous conversation.

"So… what have you two been talking about, or- more appropriately, or should I say inappropriately –what were you two talking about that led to the question of my sexuality?" His face, somehow annoyed and amused, forced me to hold a hand to my mouth to muffle my laugh. He peered over at me, and I quickly recited the greatest French designers of all time in alphabetical order to avoid thinking about what I had seen. He stared at me for a few seconds, probably trying to figure out what I was hiding. When I was done listing French designers, I moved on to the Italians…

"Alice…?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest and squared his shoulders threateningly. A little growl emitted from Jasper's chest as if by its own will. I placed my hand on his shoulder, squeezing his arm a little to warn him to stop. They were not going to fight in front of me.

I laughed nervously and responded using my best innocent-as-an-angel voice, "Yes, Edward?" Jasper still did not like Edward's menacing stance, so purposefully placed myself in front of him and drew his arms around me, keeping them occupied. Edward snickered a little at my attempts to calm the only pacifier in the family. I waited for Edward's response, but I suppose he thought it was too obvious a question to voice. He nodded, affirming my thoughts. I sighed and spoke, "Ok, boys, let's be civil now. How about we do what we came out here to do, ok? Let's hunt!" I tugged on one of Jasper's arms to try to pull him forward, but now he was a motionless, angry, statue. I sighed again, before looping my arm through his and tugging a little more forcefully. He finally budged and we started strolling forward past Edward, who was still eyeing Jasper. I suppose it wasn't a good idea to have Jasper on the side closest to Edward, for as we passed Edward's still figure he muttered, "Hundred year old Virgin." to Edward.

I stopped dead in my tracks (excuse the pun). Edward's icy form seemed to crackle as he broke out of his completely motionlessness. He backed a few steps away, moving not because he was angry with Jasper's tactless comment, but because he was afraid. Oh, and a boy had a reason to afraid, but it was not Edward.

"_What_ did you just call him?" I asked, the words hissing out through my teeth. I was now clenching onto his thick arm not out of love or haste, but out of anger. I squeeze the rock hard muscle between my arms until I could feel it clench and I heard him wince in pain.

Finally realizing what he had done, Jasper attempted to take his arm out of my grasp before I broke it off. I wasn't budging though. He attempted to talk his way out before it was too late. "Alice, honey, by 'virgin' I just meant that he-"

"Are you trying to tell me that when I met you, you, yourself, were not a two-hundred year old virgin?" He chuckled nervously, and my hands clenched a little harder, seemingly unaware of the ripping sensation beneath my hands.

"Well, Jasper, I suppose this means I don't have to deal with you for calling me gay then…" Edward smirked in satisfaction. I shot him a glare that meant I was not playing around, and he instantly flinched back another few yards. "Right, ok… I suppose I'll be going now. Catch up with me later, I suppose." He retreated towards the line of trees, my angry gaze and Jasper's frantic, pleading gaze following him until he disappeared from sight. I heard him call out one more time before he was out of ear-shot. "Oh! And have fun, you two!" I growled loud enough that the responding laugh told me he could hear me.

A few seconds passed of tense silence, before I let go of Jasper's arm in defeat. I turned my face away from him to hide my heartbroken expression. It didn't matter how well I could hide my face though, not with Jasper able to sense my dejection from where he stood behind me. He came up behind me, testing the waters slowly to make sure I was not going to turn and lash at him. He placed his hands on my shoulders tenderly, before whispering to me, "Alice-"

"Just please, _please_ don't tell me it was that dreadful Maria…" I murmured in an agonized voice. His hands tensed on my shoulders, and I could practically feel his shock without being able to see his face.

"Is that what you're so worried about? Oh no, _God_ no, sweetie. Do you honestly think I would ever do _that _with _Maria?_" He shivered a little, reinforcing his disgust at the thought.

Though I was relieved beyond belief, I was still concerned. "Then who was she?' I barely spoke above a whisper. He sighed.

"There was only one time before you. I don't even remember who it was now. I was a twenty year old human male in the army. It meant absolutely nothing. I've never felt anything close to the same or even comparable to what I feel with you." I sighed a little in relief, though I tried my best to mask it. Without speaking, I left his arms to walk towards where Edward had just exited from.

When I didn't hear Jasper following behind me, I turned to look at him over my shoulder. "Two hundred and fifty years? _Really?" _He nodded, still testing to see if he was forgiven. I turned around, and smirked. "Two hundred and fifty years of celibacy… maybe it's _your_ sexuality we should be worried about and not Edward's…" I let the insult trail off as I disappeared through the line of trees. I looked back to see Jasper's shocked expression at the turn of events. _Score! _I thought, and giggled. I loved shocking him. I started running just as Jasper's stance broke and he began his playful chase after me.

I crouched down, hiding myself completely in the tall grass of the forest. Just as the stag in front of me moved, I moved, purposefully allowing the animal to sense my presence. I liked the chase, though the large animal's fastest gallop was no where near as fast as I could go. Still, I enjoyed the predator and prey game. Well, most of the time I did.

I thought back to the first few weeks after Jasper and I had left Houston, Texas to find our current family. After I had starved myself for so long and found a way out of murder with a vision of what was now my family and we had succeeded in thwarting Maria's army, I had found out exactly what the side effects of a blood starvation really was. Having never been around humans except for the one fateful time in the first week of my new existence, I hadn't been exposed to the scent, the sight, the _sound_ of human blood. I cringe just thinking about it now. Not having been around a human's blood before, how was I supposed to know what happens when a newborn vampire completely starves themselves for a period of time from all blood? How was I supposed to know that that period of numbness other than thirst would make my sensitivity to humans ten times that of a normal newborn? I couldn't have known for it had never been heard of before. How was I supposed to know that the first time I encountered the sense of human blood in our travels to Washington, neither I nor Jasper could control the monster in me. With this vulnerable sensitivity to any and all human blood, there was no longer a monster inside of me—I was the monster. I would never forget and always regret the horrible things I had done—the people I had killed. My now golden eyes would never look right to me, because every time I saw them they would remind me of that horrible bright crimson that had covered them before. I was forever stained with what I had done.

"Alice… It happens to all of us. You have _nothing_ to be ashamed of." If I hadn't known the two voices by heart, I wouldn't have been able to tell if it was Jasper or Edward who had spoken. They both knew my thoughts so well: Edward knew my thoughts because he could hear every one of them. He was now so accustomed to my train of thought that he could predict my thoughts before I could actually think them. Jasper knew my thoughts because he could feel my emotion at those thoughts and knew me better than anyone else. He could take my emotion and- with his knowledge of me- determine exactly what was troubling me. This time it happened to be Edward who acknowledged my overwhelming guilt, as Jasper was off somewhere hunting, probably whilst eavesdropping on Edward's and my conversation.

"It doesn't matter." I said. "I can't change it now. I can't bring those lives back no matter what I do or how wrong it is that I'm immortal because they are not."

Edward frowned, with that odd frustration only he could portray. He pinched the bridge of his nose and spoke again, "Alice, please stop berating yourself. Emmett has killed ten times more humans than you have. I have killed a hundred times more than you have. Jasper has killed a thousand times more than you have." I glared at him for bringing Jasper's record into this conversation. "Don't be angry; Jasper agrees with me. Hell, even _Esme_ has killed as many as you have."

I frowned a little, pouting. "But Carlisle-"

"Don't compare yourself to Carlisle, Alice. Carlisle is practically being entered into sainthood! No one expects you to be perfect, of course." I frowned, wanting to just wallow in my guilt but unable to because of my over-supportive brother. I suppose he was right, though. Everyone had already told me their stories of their horrendous newborn experiences. The only one other than Carlisle who had not drunk human blood was Rosalie, and she had even killed people out of vengeance. Jasper, of course, had lived the life of a normal vampire up until I came along. I didn't even want to think about how many lives had been lost by his hands. All that mattered to me now, though, was that he was there for me—as willing as I was to change our lifestyle. Emmett, Esme, and Edward had all had fairly common newborns accidents, not including those ten rebellious years of Edward's life. Edward grimaced a bit when my mind wandered to those stories.

"I already know I'm far from perfect…" He added in response to my thoughts. _You masochist…_I responded in my mind. _You're practically a saint as well. You give self-degradation a new meaning. _The joking tone of my thoughts made Edward laugh, and his self-loathing grimace turned into the smile I was used to in my brother. Still, I thought about the other's experiences. I was suddenly reminded of a legend in vampire history of "the singer," also known as _la tua cantante_ by the Italians. Emmett and Jasper had both found a singer before, and now those people no longer existed. I deeply feared the presence of a person like that for me. If it was impossible for me to resist a normal human, how could I resist one whose blood was made to tempt me? I tried not to think about it, but now the thought would not leave my mind.

I suppose all my thoughts of humans had something to do with hunting. Hunting was always the best and worst moments for me. When I hunted, I could finally have an outlet to release the predatory instincts in me that I constantly had to suppress. But- in turn- hunting made me think of blood, and blood was not something I enjoyed thinking about, for it brought back those painful, guilty memories. By this point, I felt so deeply overwhelmed with guilt that I practically felt sick, if that were possible. The way my breathing shut off in shock, but didn't affect me because I didn't actually need to breathe was frustrating. I just wished that I could properly vent my guilt, but my body and mind were unchanging. This guilt would never diminish no matter how much I was able to move on.

"Wow… you two are real downers, you know that?" I looked up as Jasper walked into view. I smiled a little at his presence, but his joking words struck me a little. Jasper constantly had to deal with my depression, and Edward's masochism. I remembered when I had first awoken as a vampire, I had been so happy with Jasper that he was instantly happy. Whatever the people around him felt affected him.

"Sorry Jazzy!" I forced a smile on my face, reaching up on my tippy toes to plant a chaste kiss on his lips, which were curled up into an amused smile. Seeing our gushy display Edward rolled his eyes and retreated from sight, probably heading back to the house. I tried to slip those thoughts of my vulnerability and my sister from my thoughts, but I could never fully stop thinking about them. My mind went through my calming mantra once again; _I can't help who I am, but I can try my hardest to be different. I can love my sister and watch over her, but not seeing her is best. She will be happier this way, and I can live peacefully knowing she will be safe. _I repeated this a few times in my mind, trying to not to acknowledge the fact that Edward could hear me, not that he hadn't heard it all before. But just then, when the thoughts of Bella had begun to recede to the backburner in my mind, is when the vision came.

_Vision_

_Bella was walking towards a large cafeteria, books in hand as she scanned the rows of tables and students. I boy came up behind her, slapping her on the butt and whispering something suggestive into her ear. I fumed inside at the sight. How _dare_ he lay a hand on my sister? I wondered briefly how hard it would be to convince Carlisle that it would be a good idea to have Emmett find this boy and show him what happens when he violates a vampire's little sister. But it seemed that pay-back was not needed from me. Bella turned around, swaying her hips seductively. She was actually allowing that kind of behavior! She backed him into a wall, asking him his name. I was shocked. What had happened to my sister in my absence? My sister… my sister was… a slut?_

_I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw her knee come up to ram him in the groin, though I doubted that he did the same. If I were a man, I might have cringed in sympathy pain. I watched her exhibition in shock, though. No, my sister had not turned into a slut in my absence as I had previously thought, but she _had_ turned into somewhat of a rebel. I shook my head in disbelief. My sister- my little, bashful, loveable sister –had just kneed some boy where it hurts. Not that he hadn't deserved it, but still—_my_ sister! I guess I really _hadn't _been there for my sister like I had thought. Otherwise, she wouldn't have changed so much since I had left. _

_Bella pushed the crowd that had accumulated around her, running to the bathroom. When she was safely in the restroom, she looked at herself in the mirror. That's when I saw it; that look that told me nothing really had changed. As her eyes grew glassy, I knew she was still the same Bella I remembered on the inside. Though she didn't seem to recognize it, she was upset. She slumped over and put her hands in her pockets. I suddenly realized what she was wearing as her brow furrowed in confusion. Out from her jean pocket- the very jeans I had bought for her over two years ago- she brought a folded piece of white paper, wrinkled with the time it had spent in the pocket. _It couldn't be… _I thought. _It couldn't have taken her this long to find it. _Oh, but it had. _

_I grimly realized that the neatly written name on the front was in my hand writing, for I had written that name two years ago. She timidly unfolded the paper and began reading. My still heart seemed to lurch in my chest when the moisture that had accumulated in the corners of her eyes finally spilled over and trailed slow tracks down her cheeks. She held the paper away from her face so that her tears didn't touch the paper. _

_The vision faded away as she ran out of the restroom. The last part of the vision was of Bella in my yellow Porsche. She looked too distressed for me to be bothered by the fact that she was driving my car, when the last time I had seen her she had been too young to drive. She was sixteen now, I realized, but still—the sight of her driving my beloved Porsche would normally be more disconcerting. But now? Right now she looked too hopeless for me to care about my car. She looked to be in complete despair. Finally, after a long time of staying still, her eyes perked up in surprise. She reached over to a bag on the passenger seat and pulled out a plain notebook. Turning to the first page, she took out a pen, writing:_

_**Alice-**_

_**I'm coming for you.**_

_As she snapped her notebook shut, my vision closed as well. _

_End Vision_

When I snapped out of the vision, I took a deep, gasping breath as though I was a drowning human finally taking that relieving breath for life. But I was not human, and I had no need for breath no matter how much or how little breathable oxygen was available in my environment. I took that deep, shaky breath because I was shocked. My sister had written a deliberate letter to my vision. She had either figured or hoped that I would be able to see her if she tried to contact me. Not only that, but it had taken two whole years for her to find my letter; for her to know that I wasn't dead as the police had assumed. This whole time- every day of the last two or so years, she had thought that I was dead. I sucked in another deep but unstable breath to try to steady myself. After all this time, Bella was going to try to find me.

"No!" I gasped. Jasper, whom I realized had been frantically trying to speak to me since my vision had ended, put his arms around my shoulders.

"Alice? What is it?" Jasper asked, worried for me as always. I shook my head, my body shaking as though I was crying, though tears were physically impossible. I kept repeating that word: _No, no, no, no…_

"It's Bella! It's my sister! She's coming for me!" I exclaimed in torment.

"What? What about her?" He was desperate for answers, as he had been so many times before. If Edward were still here to see my vision along with me, he might have told Jasper what I had seen instead of making me tell him. Edward was not here though, so I had to say it out loud. It seemed like such a hard thing to do, for saying it out loud would only confirm the inevitable.

"She's coming to find me. She can't find me! If she does… If she finds me… I-I will…" I couldn't say it. I shut my eyes, unable to bear the pain of the truth.

"Yes?!" Jasper's hands tightened on my shoulders out of frustration. I shook my head, but he only waited for my response.

Without opening my eyes, I whispered. "I'll kill her."

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**Oohoo, sorry for the epic cliff-hanger there (kind of cliff-hanger, not really). I'll get to work on the next chapter immediately though, so keep watch for it. **

**Thanks for reading, and reviews are much appreciated!**

**-TG**


	4. The Connection

_**Hello Everybody! ^_^  
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_**Hope everyone had a marvellous Thanksgiving break and/or vacation. Mine was pretty good; I DID get some writing done, which is always good. This is a rather serious Bella chapter, but trust me it only gets better from here. I have a very interesting chapter coming up next which is almost done. There's just one little thing I need to consult my beta Alex on before I decide on anything. Trust me, the next chapter is both serious and witty banter. I 3 Writing Alice point of view chapters because it's my comfort zone. Bella is a little out of my league... but I'm trying to do the best I can. Please tell me if you think there's ways I could improve my interpretation of Bella but remember that this Bella is a little out of character because of a different setting, situation, and different upbringing. Still, any help is much appreciated.**_

_**Now, if you got through that and you're one of those people who actually read author's notes, here's a gazillion brownie points pour toi! (by the way.. I randomly say french phrases when I speak, didn't know if you knew this about me. Well now you do!)**_

_**Enjoy the chapter! Read and review, s'il vous plait!**_

_**Keep Reading!**_

_**-TG**_

_**(PS- shout-out to kinoko a.k.a. Viagra! ^_^ heehee Love ya girl!)**_

_**Disclaimer: TWILIGHT characters are owned by Stephenie Meyer of course. **_

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Chapter 3- The Connection

Bella POV

I don't know what possessed me to go where I did. I still don't know why I felt the need to go there. It just…happened. All I know is that I found myself with a new found hope after writing my note to Alice—a hope that rendered me able to return my hands to the steering wheel and place my foot back on gas. I still hadn't known where on earth I could begin to search for my sister, but I didn't think about that at the time. I had let my instincts take over, and they had led me to the first highway going west. I guessed I was going to California then. It was perfect—so unoriginal to the point of being clichéd that California seemed like a good starting point.

That might have seemed like the perfect plan until it dawned on me that there was no "starting point." I now sat in my car, flipping through the first few pages of the notebook. I passed my first note to Alice, then the next few telling her where I had been over the past few days.

**Alice,**

**I'm in Santa Fe. Where are you?**

When I had written my first note, I had just really taken a break from the long drive for the first time. I had opted out of going straight across Texas through El Paso, instead going up through the larger cities. I knew that going through central Texas meant a lot of open area without many people or busy rest stops, and El Paso was right along the border into Mexico. As a girl on my own, it didn't sound as safe as going up into the not too busy and very hospitable Fort Worth. After Fort Worth, I had gone up towards Wichita Falls and Amarillo. After that, I didn't even take a restroom stop until I made it to Santa Fe. I just kept driving, not letting the drowsiness and eventually fatigue take over my body or the hunger make me stop for food. I just had to keep going, had to get out of Texas and into somewhere where I could really begin my search. When I had finally made it after over a fourteen hour drive, however, I had found a fast food restaurant in a nice area and had fallen asleep in the car while parked in the restaurant's lot without doing much searching at all. That didn't dissuade me though. It had only taken eight hours to get to Phoenix.

**Alice,**

**In Phoenix, Arizona—getting warmer?**

I actually greatly enjoyed Phoenix. I had never been there before, but there had been something about the dry heat that was unhindered by constant humidity that I had immensely enjoyed. The deserts were beautiful in their own unique way that I couldn't exactly describe. It was different than the heat or deserts of Texas. Texas was just so humid all the time. I had liked Phoenix so much that I had actually bothered to stop and stay a night at a nice Marriott, taking the cheapest room they had for just one night with no extra amenities. First thing in the morning, however, I had headed straight out for California.

**Alice,**

**Just crossed the border into California, please tell me I'm getting close…**

I sighed at the messages, which seemed to get more hopeless as they progressed. After about three days of driving with very few breaks, I was on the Californian coast. I took the pen from my bag, writing the latest of the locations.

**Alice,**

**Just made it to San Diego… I don't know, maybe I'll hit the zoo or enjoy the city until you contact me. Just please do it soon.**

Of course, I wouldn't waste my time on tourism when I could be driving to the next city. I supposed that I would just travel up the west coast from here until something happened or Alice contacted me. I was worried about how long this would take. Sure, I had barely put a dent in my cash supply with my one hotel stop and few meal breaks, but what I had left could only last me so long. After that time expended… well, I didn't know what I could do. Right now I was relying on some contact from Alice. I don't know how I expected Alice to answer my attempts at contact, but for some reason I had the distinct feeling that she _could_ if she really wanted to. While I supposed she either still had her old cell phone or had a new phone and she almost undoubtedly still remembered my number, seeing as she called me more than anyone else, I was almost positive I wouldn't be contacted by a call. I don't know why I thought this, but I just knew it somehow. Still, in case I was wrong, I kept my phone charged and in sight at all times with the ringer on full blast. Still, that had its disadvantages, because the only two people who would call me on my cell were Alice, who had yet to call me, and my mother, who had. I hadn't answered, of course, but she had left a message. It had gone something like:

_Bella.... Please come home. _

_I know- I know things haven't exactly been… the same since… Alice left us, but just come home. I promise we'll work on becoming a family again… I know now that that's what Alice would have wanted, and what you needed all along…But even so… Even so, I suppose I understand your decision to leave as well. You've always been older than your years, Bella—even when she was here for you. You were always more mature than other kids your age… And I don't have any doubt that you're fully capable of being able to live on your own. But you're only 16; you shouldn't have to live on your own. Just come __home, and we can work this out. Your father and I have filed a missing person report for you with the police, but know that I wouldn't have done so had I not felt obligated to. I know how your mind is—if this is what's best for you, if staying here isn't in your best interest, then you'll know. If coming home is the best choice for you, you'll come home. It may just take some time… time that you probably won't have with the police trailing after you. Just take this time to sort out what you need with yourself… and when you feel ready, just come back. I've already lost one of my children…Now I'm losing you… and I feel like I'm losing your father more and more each day now that both of you are gone. You may not need me anymore, Bella… but I still need you. _

It had been heart-breaking to listen to that message—to hear my mother, the confidant and social Renee Brandon, so hopeless… for a moment I was tempted to turn around. But only for a moment.

I loved my mother. That fact was irrefutable, for she had given me a life and raised me well. But while I loved my mother, I _needed _and loved my sister. My mother had always loved me like she should have, but she hadn't been everything I needed. She had been immature and constantly changing her ways; an instability that a growing child doesn't need. When I was starting school at five, when I was hitting puberty at thirteen, and when my sister "died" and left me distraught when I was fourteen, my mother hadn't been the rock I had needed at the time. A growing girl needs that constant—that knowledge that while everything else seems to be changing, this one factor of my life would not. My mother seemed to change more than I did. But Alice—Alice was my rock. She was my constant, my stability. She was the sister that I needed her to be, the friend that I needed her to be, and the protector I needed her to be. Alice had been everything I needed when I didn't even know that I had needed it. She had always been special, that had never changed. She was just the right amount of unique that it was undoubtedly part of her. Alice never stopped being special, and she had never changed. Not until I was fourteen.

I remember the last morning I saw her as clear as if it were yesterday. I wasn't special or psychic like Alice, but I had the distinct premonition that something was wrong about her. Something had changed about her for the first time. My normally hyperactive sister was worried for me, which normally wasn't anything new. It seemed like Alice had always been worried about me, proclaiming that I was officially a "danger magnet," having attracted more than a few abnormal ways to break bones, sprain wrists and ankles, and trip over nothing more than air. But that morning, she had been worried for my life. So when she had told me to stay home that day, to not go anywhere without her, I had obeyed. I hadn't had a movie marathon like I had said I would. I had stayed by the phone, waiting for Alice to call and say she was on her way home. Even when I tried to read to distract myself from the suffocating feeling of dread, I had the phone near by just in case Alice called. But she never did. I never got that call. And in the next few days, week, and then months it seemed like my worst nightmare was coming true. My one constant, my rock, was dead, and my world was turned upside down.

That is why I'm here. That is the reason why I can't go home. That is why, no matter how long it takes me, I _will_ find my sister. That's why I'm not going to think about how impossible this is no matter how hopeless it may seem. I have the hope that I will succeed, and I have hope that Alice will find me. She may not think she's what's best for me, but I know she is. Life just isn't the same without her.

I looked down to my lap and saw the notebook sitting there. There was nothing on it besides my little notes to Alice, and for some reason I was disappointed. I had almost wished that there had been a magical response to my latest message in the margin below my note. I had secretly hoped that Alice had some how found a way to contact me. I sighed, closing the book to shield my eyes from the disheartening lack of response. I shoved the notebook back into my bag and restarted the car, now immune to the odd sound of the quiet thrum of the engine from living in this car for the past few days. This strange, foreign car had adapted to me sometime during our travels together.

San Diego was a strange, but beautiful, city. The gas station I was pulling out of was cramped with many other buildings on the side of the hill. As I had sat in the car for a long while, having been pondering my notes and my mother, I had been able to see a commercial jet pass just over the building as if it would skim the top if it dropped any lower in altitude. Of course, I knew that it was much farther up than it appeared, but I had never seen a plane come so close to the ground while still being a ways from the airport,. But I was used to the close proximity of buildings in the city. I had lived just outside of Houston, which had been close to the same way. The only difference is that Houston the city had the tall buildings close together, while this city seemed to just have simple, one or two story buildings with the same claustrophobic settings. As I drove out onto the main road, not quite sure where I was headed, I couldn't help but notice the ocean sprawling beside me on the drive. I loved the ocean, but I wouldn't go near it. With my luck and track record with wet surfaces I didn't trust myself to get near an ocean without tripping and falling off a cliff or hitting my head on a rock or diving into shark-infested waters while bleeding. Don't even think I'm exaggerating. My sister… Alice used to say that I saying I was accident prone was an understatement. I have always been a danger magnet.

That was another one of those things that I had been able to rely on Alice for: my proclivity for accidents. It had always seemed like every time I had tripped and had been close to falling, she had been there to catch me. I had been a few inches shorter than she had been back then, not including the heels. With her staggeringly tall heels, I had been a good seven inches shorter than she. Still, no matter how close to the ground I came, I never fell.

That had been how I had really grasped that she was gone, by falling. Before her car had made it back to the empty corner of the garage but just after the police had told us that there were no leads to finding her, I had been walking down the drive way. I had been going out to get the mail for my mother when it had happened. I had been walking as I so often do and I stumbled. I hadn't tripped on anything particular; not a rock or a root, but that was how it often wass for me. I didn't have to trip on anything to fall besides air or my own feet. I was _that _talented at clumsiness. I remember that half way through my fall I had realized my predicament, but- for that moment- I wasn't afraid of hitting the ground. I wasn't afraid that I would get hurt, because I was waiting in that moment for a small but steady hand to wrap around my arm and pull me to safety. But it never happened. I just kept falling. I hit the hard, unforgiving cement beneath me, scraping my knees and palms and chin in the process. I remembered I had been so shocked that the pain didn't really register in my mind. I had wiped the blood from my chin and just stared at it, realizing that it was my blood and I had been hurt, but still too numb and shocked to really feel the pain. That little bit of pain was trivial compared to the overwhelming anguish that was building up inside of me beginning at that point. Suddenly it felt like a hole had ripped through me as I realized that the reason I had fallen, the reason I was bleeding was because Alice wasn't right there next to me like she had always been before. For once in my life, she wasn't there to catch me. This realization seemed to dawn on me slowly, creeping up on me until it was at the perfect position to block off all my senses and suffocate me with dread. It was the one point where I had realized that there _was _no hope. Needless to say, I had sat there for an undeterminable amount of time before I had walked back into the house, unable to remember why I had gone outside to begin with.

Even now, just thinking about that time when everything seemed to be crashing down, I could feel that hole in my chest. Taking one hand off the steering wheel and folding it across my torso, it was like I was trying to hold myself together. This feeling wasn't nearly as bad, though. I could feel it already- that hole repairing itself. It was like a sixth sense, my connection to my sister. Somehow I knew I was getting closer, though I don't know exactly why that was. It just seemed like beginning with the news that my sister was alive, the hole began to fill back in. Even now as I drove on, I could feel myself getting better a little at a time as if I was on the right track. Whatever this feeling was, I had to go with it. It was all I had to finding Alice. This just had to work.

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_**So lots of explanations in that chapter... tell me if there's anything I need to clarify for you or something you don't quite understand. I'd be happy to elaborate further on the subject if you wish so. **_

_**Keep Reading!**_

_**-TG  
**_


	5. Worrying

**_Yay, quick succession of chapter updates ^_^ I've felt kind of bad that I've had long breaks in between chapters, so I've been writing a lot more to make up for it. Here's this one, and I've already done half of the next one... ooh, I'm so excited. Things are really starting to pick up in this story. First major plot twist here! Tell me what you think in a review!_**

**_Keep Reading!_**

**_-TG_**

**_P.S. I'm working on a new story that I'm SOOOO excited about. I'm not going to tell you what it's about yet, but i'm fairly certain there's not another one like it from what I've seen. I've searched the site to see if there's a similar story, and I haven't been able to find one. I'll just tell you that this new one, unlike the Witness, will be fully co-authored by my beta Alex. The Witness and the following story ended up getting soooo complicated in the plot that Alex couldn't really keep up over email, so she just edited my chapters for me in the end. But this next story I'm writing will have five main characters, two of which will be strictly Alex's. When I post it, I'll let you know. I'd like you all to really get a taste of Alex's writing style, she's fantastic. ^_^ Plus, two of the characters are strictly mine, so you will get a little more of my writing. Then the last character in the story will be a little of both Alex and I. I'm definitely excited for this one._**

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Chapter 4- Worrying

Alice POV

I was pacing again; walking back and forth, back and forth through the large entry way of our home. If I hadn't been so anxious, I might've been concerned that I was wearing a hole in Esme's nice wooden floors. But under these circumstances, I was not thinking about damaging the floors. All I could think about was time and how much of it I had left. How much time could I stand knowing that Bella was somewhere out there on her own? Someone who was so prone to accidents and danger should not be driving such a fast car down the highway up the west coast without many stops. She was only sixteen, for goodness sake. She'd barely been driving for a month, yet she was already taking an extended road trip on her own. How long did I have until I lost it—until I couldn't stand leaving her in danger anymore? Would I be able to resist finding her myself? Would I be able to tell myself that I was the more dangerous than anything she could encounter in the human world? I had no answers to any of these questions.

Not only this, but I was worried at how strangely accurate Bella was. I had been looking intently to the future, looking for the little messages she gradually left me at each big city. I suppose it wasn't an original idea, going to the west coast as a teenage girl on your own, but still—out of any place in the county, in the world for that matter, why did she decide to go to the west? Why didn't she go to Florida or New York if she thought I wanted to go somewhere popular? Why didn't she go to Illinois, Nebraska, or Alabama if she thought I didn't want to be found? Why had she so steadfastly headed west? Not only that, but she had recently or would soon hit Sacramento. Having started at the southern California border and San Diego, what had possessed Bella to go north? Why not Las Vegas? The big question here was how she knew where to go. I was both anticipating and dreading the time when she would hit the Northern California border. Where would she go then? I just hoped she wouldn't want to see Seattle. If she did, I would have to leave the Cullen's. My new family, Jasper's and my new home, would have to be left behind. I couldn't risk harming my sister, and I couldn't uproot the Cullen's when they had only just taken me in to their home two years ago.

I couldn't do that to my new family. That was the main reason why I hadn't told anyone other than Jasper yet—not even Edward. It had been almost a week since I had had that vision. When I had told Jasper, he had overreacted a little, saying I was ridiculous and asking why I would kill my sister. But after I explained to him, he became the supportive person he always was. Now he understood that should Bella find me, I wouldn't be able to live with myself anymore. My vulnerability was too much for me to handle. I couldn't be in the vicinity of human blood without going on a rampage. Jasper or Emmett could hold me back, but it would be too late. The human would have seen me in that crazed state and would've been scared. Even Bella, though my sister, would probably be too afraid to see that I was still her sister. I know that if I were to see her at this time, I would be too crazy to see anything but the warm blood flowing through her veins and the delicious sound of—_stop it._ I warned my wandering thoughts. I couldn't think of things like that. I had to constantly be on alert with my thoughts. I had definitely been on alert the past week, for I couldn't let Edward know about my sister. If this was going to happen, I would have to leave the Cullen's without them knowing. If they knew, they might try to help me and my sister find a way to be together. They were the kind of family that would do that; keep that bond together no matter what. But I couldn't have that bond anymore. I had given up all hope of that when I had chosen to go to Houston so long ago instead of staying at home with my sister. I couldn't let myself put her in danger, no matter how sincerely I wanted to see her again. I _could. Not. See. Bella. _I had to repeat that in my mind.

Luckily for me, right then I didn't have to worry about holding my thoughts away from Bella. Carlisle, Edward, and Esme had gone to see the Denali coven up in Alaska yesterday and wouldn't be back till the upcoming weekend. With just Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper in the house I could breathe a sigh of relief. At that particular moment, Jasper was upstairs and Rosalie was working on a car in the garage. No one would know there was something wrong unless—

"What are you doing?" I came to an immediate halt. Not realizing my finger tips had glided up to my temples while I had been pacing and simultaneously scanning the future. Emmett had walked into the room, most likely heading for the stairs to find Jasper. He was probably bored and in the mood for a bet or a wrestling match or something else very testosterone related - while not induced because those two particular men didn't have bodies that produced hormones anymore. Emmett was by no means stupid, therefore he could see that something was wrong with me without being able to sense my emotions or read my thoughts. Despite this fact, I tried to play it off.

"Er, what does it look like I'm doing?" I asked him, directing the question back at him. He raised an eyebrow curiously and crossed his arms, an arrogant smirk growing on his face.

"Pacing, or so it seems by the ditch you've created in the floor." He replied, waiting for a response. I looked down; sure enough, the wood beneath my shoes had been worn down about three-fourths of an inch. There wasn't any sense denying that. I hoped Esme wouldn't be too mad at me…

"Oh," I said, looking up sheepishly. "You thought I was _pacing_… I could see why you would think that." I tried to play it cool, though I was failing miserably at it. I couldn't think of a good reason why I would be pacing that I could tell Emmett.

"So… are you going to tell me why?" Emmett asked, his trademark sarcastic smirk appearing in reaction to my awkward moment.

"Would you believe me if I said I was getting some exercise?" I said a little sarcastically, but mostly hoping he would take that and let the question go. He raised his eyebrow sardonically, and I sighed. "Right, I guess not…"

I looked up at Emmett, my loveable, trustworthy, and gigantic new brother, and suddenly an idea came to mind. Emmett was _exactly_ what I needed—someone who had good control over their vampire tendencies, who was trustworthy, and- most importantly- who couldn't refuse a challenge. My sheepish expression changed to a curious one, setting the stage for my plan. "Actually Emmett, I was just thinking about you."

I said it very smoothly and calmly, piquing Emmett's interest immediately. "Oh?" He asked in the same voice, knowing that some sort of challenge was in store.

"Yeah…" My tone hinted at remorse now, as if regretting what I was saying. "You see—Jasper needs something delivered to someone in California, and he said he would just do it himself. Knowing you, I told him that you could get it there faster, but he disagrees with me. He insists that, while you may be stronger, he is definitely the faster out of the two of you."

"Are you kidding?! I could outrun him any day!" Emmett exclaimed, seeming absolutely outraged with the fake but believable argument.

He was right where I wanted him to be. "I know!" I conceded. "That's what I said, but he just wouldn't believe me. He said he'd be to California and back in only a few hours, and a big guy like you would take at least a day."

Emmett scoffed at my words, "Ridiculous!"

I resisted the urge to smirk in triumph, for Emmett was eating out of the palm of my hand. I had him _exactly_ where I wanted him. "You know how we could prove him wrong, don't you?" His answering smirk told me he did.

"Hell yeah, I do! Give me the place. Give me the letter. I'll be back in an hour—before Jasper even realizes I'm gone." Emmett eyes were dead set on the challenge now; so much so, that he didn't even question why I would be pacing for this reason. Before he could, I ran to the other room and wrote down a very short letter. I folded it and wrote Bella's name on the back. I ran back into the room and handed the note to Emmett, having only taken a few seconds for the whole procedure. He looked curiously at the note, as if itching to open it, and asked me without looking away from the little piece of paper. "Where to, boss?"

"Ok, listen carefully—don't ask questions, just do what I say." I looked to the future to see exactly where Bella would be when Emmett arrived. It was night, so she was sleeping in her car. I frowned: she shouldn't be sleeping in her car. It was so dangerous out there, especially for a 16 year old, fragile, danger-magnetized human like Bella. I shook my head, but kept my focus. "In Sacramento there will be a human sleeping in a Porsche 911 Turbo from 11 pm to 7 am. I nee—_Jasper_ needs you to slip this note into the car without the human waking up and noticing." I thought about what else he might need to know for a moment, realizing something suddenly. "Oh, and don't damage the car." I gave Emmett the exact coordinates where she would be on a map, which he didn't really need since he had surely seen a map of California before.

I could tell that Emmett had a question that was just itching to be asked, but he heeded my words and didn't ask it. He scoffed instead, saying "Psh… No problem. And I thought this would be a challenge. Be back in a jiffy, Sis!" Emmett snatched the note from my hand and leaned forward, pecking me on the cheek in a very older-brotherly way. He had become such an accepting brother such a short time. I nearly felt bad about my plan working, the success of the plan diminishing with the realization that I had just done something morally wrong. But since I knew my plan's success had been important to my sister's safety, I was happy. I smiled, completely satisfied with my manipulation. Sure, it was probably wrong to use my big brother like that, but I could just call it payback for the plethora of pranks he had attempted on me since I had moved in. I was ignoring, of course, the fact that all his attempts had failed considering I could see the future and all that jazz. Still, if I needed an excuse I could use that. Smirking, he took the note and was gone. No doubt, he'd be back within the hour.

I felt a presence coming down the stairs and walk up behind me. I knew immediately who it was, but I didn't turn around. I closed my eyes, preparing myself for the inevitable scolding. When he spoke, I almost felt like I should flinch in fear of the inevitable disapproving tone of his voice. I was surprised when his voice was only confused. "What just happened? And why is Emmett going to California 'for me'?"

I turned around; my sheepish expression finally meeting Jasper's confused one. I smiled innocently, but he just raised an eyebrow in question. I chuckled nervously, "Well, uh…You see, it's just…" His serious expression sobered me, and I sighed. "I couldn't do it anymore, Jazz! I couldn't _stand _it; knowing she was out there on her own—so fragile and horribly _human._ Ugh… I had to do something! I had to tell her to go home because we can't see or be with each other anymore. I had to, Jasper! I just-I just-"

He wrapped his arms around me, sending calming waves to help settle my frantic thoughts. He shushed me, shaking his head. "I know you miss her. And I know you wish you could see her again. But you're doing so well—a stronger person would have given up by now and gone looking for her. But you haven't, and you won't. You love Bella too much to go looking for her, because you know that what we are is way too dangerous for her." His words were helpful and overly-complimentary, but I was in awe of how good Jasper was at calming me with his words as well as his power. The way he said that "we" were too dangerous for Bella and not "I," though I knew that a vampire my age should be able to control their self in the presence of a human. I was just different in more ways than one. I had once made a decision not to kill, so now my own instincts were acting of their own accord in spite of me—telling me that I had no choice whether or not I wanted to kill someone. But I did have a choice: I could stay here with my surrogate family and my love, and I would be happy with just that and nothing more. My life would be in this house or the next house that my family moves to.

"I feel horrible." I told him pitifully.

"No you don't—you feel guilt and remorse and longing and just a little regret, but you do not feel horrible. Trust me, I have felt much more disparaged emotions that yours just now. And I know this is not the low point of your existence thus far by a long stretch, since you have felt worse before. Just think about how far you've come." He replied. I _did_ feel really bad for manipulating Emmett into delivering my letter for me. And- for just a moment- I regretted sending Bella a message at all.

Then I remembered her out there on her own again and the regret went away. "I keep looking to the future… trying to see what's going to happen to her, what's going to happen to me, what's going to happen to _us._ But everything's so uncertain. Nobody can seem to make up their mind. Bella is traveling from place to place seemingly on a whim, which is why I'm so confused all the time. I can see decisions, but she's not making preemptive decisions on where she's going. I don't know how she's getting so close when she has no reason to believe that I'm on the west coast. It scares me how frighteningly accurate she is in her random wanderings. All we have between us is Oregon it seems."

Jasper's power calmed me, but it couldn't really subdue the solemn feeling I had. He spoke, probably trying to console me in ways his powers could not. "We could leave if you like. We can go to Africa for all it matters, as long as you feel safe and happy."

I shook my head, laughing humorlessly. "Please. I'm not worried about my safety. It's not _me_ I'm worried about—it's Bella. I don't want her to find me not because it would hurt me, but because I would hurt her. I would kill her, Jasper, if I were to come into close proximity with her. Don't you understand? I couldn't live with myself if I hurt her. But I can't just leave! Not when I promised her I would always watch over her. I promised that I would be her guardian angel, and I won't go back on my promise to take care of her. I may not be able to help her in person, but the least I can do is watch her future and send someone to save her if need be. And I can't do that from Africa or anywhere else over seas for that matter."

He nodded, staring past my head—which probably meant he was thinking, using that genius strategic brain of his to devise a plan that could get us out of yet another predicament. I often wondered if he missed that part of his old life; his life in the vampire battlefield. His aptitude for tactics and stratagem was a talent that was sadly unacknowledged in the calm, vegetarian lifestyle. Though, I can't say that didn't make me happy. A calm and boring lifestyle meant comfort and regularity instead of constant uncertainty and fear. But- as always- the "excitement" couldn't avoid me for long. There always had to be everything happening in my life at once, both good and bad. It was definitely not good that somewhere in Italy there was a group of deadly vampires that were discussing whether or not to track Jasper and I down and kill us, since they had good reason to believe it was we that had killed their comrade. Of course, we were guilty of killing him, but not without cause. I was hoping that cause was something the Volturi took into consideration… but I doubted it.

Then there was always my sister—oh, my very, _very_ human sister; she, the one who was so dead-set on finding me when I told her so specifically not to; she, the one who decided not to believe me when I told her that I wasn't good for her anymore; and she, the one who was so very close to finding me, frighteningly close. I didn't even like thinking about my sister anymore, because I was so afraid of her seeing me this way. I was afraid of what she would think of my new family. Would she think I just forgot about her and started a new life? Would she be too appalled by what we are that she wouldn't be able to see that I'm still her sister? But how could I have the audacity to say I'm still the same when I don't know what the same is? I don't _know_ who that girl who was Bella's sister and best friend was. Maybe I'm still the same girl, I just don't remember. But if I'm not, If I've completely changed from the girl she remembers… I could hurt Bella in more ways than wanting to drain her of blood. The worst part of it all is that there's really no way for me to know which outcome will occur until it's too late. If she does find me, it will most likely be a spur of the moment decision like every other she's made thus far. If shuddering was a natural reaction for me, I would at the thought.

But, if I didn't think about the Volturi or my sister, and I really stopped worrying for one moment, I could think about the golden point of my life right then. Because even though I had a deadly clan of vampires on my trail and could potentially kill my sister in the near future, I had the most wonderful fiancée anyone could ever ask for. Through the hard times, I had a person to survive with. Not only that, but I had an amazing wedding to plan. Even though I can't go to the bridal stores in fear that I would eat the nice sales clerks, _nothing_ could stop me from online shopping. I had already sent the sketches for my dress, which I had designed myself, to a designer in Paris, and it would be here in a month. I could see it already, and it. Was. _Perfect._ When all other forms of optimism fails, I think of that dress and that vision I had of me walking down the aisle to my waiting future husband, and everything seems ok again. The only problem with my wedding is that my maid of honor couldn't be there to see me get married, but I wouldn't worry about that. Oh, how I would have loved to have Bella meet Jasper—to know how happy I really was with him. How right at that moment, in his arms, not even having to talk—I was almost complete again. When he was with me, the absence of my life didn't seem so prominent in my mind.

(Somewhere in Northern Californian)

Emmett POV

_How dare he! How dare Jasper think he could beat _me _in anything, much less a physical competition! Pshah! Please, I'm already crossing into California, and I bet he wouldn't even be in Oregon in this quick a time! _Even as I thought of the supposed competition that Alice had told me about, I couldn't help but wonder something: Why would Jasper need to contact a human? A_ Californian_ human, for that matter? And even more importantly, who sleeps in a Porsche 911 Turbo?! I mean, seriously, if you can afford that kind of car, you can afford somewhere better to sleep. The car runs great, but that amount of space can not be comfortable to sleep in.

Regardless of those important questions, there was nothing more potent in my mind than that note that Alice had given me. The desire to read that note was hard to suppress. It was folded in my hand: tiny in comparison. Despite that, it seemed like the only thing around me. It was like a fly buzzing ceaselessly in my head just saying, _Read me, Emmett! Read meeeeeee!_ (Feel free to imagine the previous statement in a creepy, sepulchral voice. That's how I did it, and it's much more fun.)

After an entirely too long second of irritation, I couldn't help myself. I just _had_ to see what Jasper, or probably Alice, had written to a human. It had only been two years since Alice and Jasper had joined us, but I loved Alice like a sister. Not only that, but I thoroughly enjoyed getting to put the beat down on Jasper when Edward was being a huge weenie playing music and learning new stuff… hah! But still, I couldn't help but me a little suspicious of the two of them. I mean, they had told us their whole history and all, but what if they couldn't leave their past behind them? What if they secretly were recruiting newborns in California to spread the southern armies west?! What if this mysterious human with the awesome car was a future prospect for their new vampire army?! I couldn't let them endanger the whole family, could I? That would be just plain irresponsible…

Ok, so I was stretching it just a little bit. Yeah, so, I didn't really believe that Alice and Jasper were secretly creating a western vampire army and harvesting newborns… but Edward wasn't around to read my thoughts. Therefore, no one had to know of my intentions. I chuckled deviously as I began to unfold the tiny letter, noticing the name on the back was Bella. I didn't know of a human named Bella who owned a Porsche 911 Turbo and had some relevance to Jasper and Alice, but I would soon find out who she was. I opened the note slowly and carefully so as not to rip it. When I opened it, I half expected some secret code or treasure map or something cool like that, but sadly I was disappointed. I immediately recognized Alice's tiny, scrawling hand writing. There were only three lines of writing, and not much disclosure of information in those two lines for that matter. All it said was:

_**Bella,**_

_**I miss you, but under no circumstances can you find me. I know it's hard, but it's not safe for you to be with me anymore and it's not safe for you to be out on your own. Don't worry about me. Just go home, Bella.**_

_**Your Sister,**_

_**Alice**_

Reading it all the way through, I realized that there was one vital piece of information in that note. Something I hadn't realized had been significant until I realized it was significant. Alice had a sister—a _human_ sister. I suppose it wasn't too unbelievable to think that she had left a human family behind with her entrance into vampirism seeing as she was only nineteen years old now. But still, she hadn't told us _anything_ about her family except that she didn't remember much about them. She had kept this juicy piece of information from all of us, including- and I seriously don't know how she accomplished this one- Edward. How could she keep her _thoughts_ away from her family for two whole years? If we, her current vampire family, didn't know she had a biological human family out there somewhere (probably in Texas, considering that's where she and Jasper were from), did her biological sister know about her vampire family? Is that why she was worried about Bella finding her, because she could expose our entire family? I soon realized the severity of the situation as I thought over the insistence in Alice's letter.

I know that if I had a real family, I'd want to see them. And Alice wrote herself that she missed Bella. Not only that, but it had been _so_ long since something interesting happened to the Cullens! I mean, how bad could another Alice be? Ooh, maybe this Bella girl could see the future or some other cool power like that already! How cool would that be?! It was decided then: I absolutely _had_ to meet this Bella person. I supposed that her waking up in her car to a vampire would not be the best idea… hmm…. Aha! I knew exactly what I would do. This Bella girl wanted to see her sister, which was perfectly acceptable, in my way of thinking. Well, I would kill a few birds with one stone then. I'd bring Alice's sister to her, whom I would get to meet at last, and we could bring together Alice's foster family with her biological family! We could be like the undead Brady Bunch! (Now that I think about it, they should totally give us a reality show.)

So, it was decided. And with that decision, I ran into a large neighborhood. I hopped through an open window, snatching a pen from the house so quietly that it would be impossible to know I was there. I jumped out of the house again, finding a spot in the surrounding woods to stop. Resting the note on a flat rock, I wrote two words on the back in the top right corner:

_Forks, Washington_

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**_Soooo... what did you think? I didn't initially plan on featuring any point of views besides Alice's or Bella's, but this was the best way for the story line to work... plus I thouroughly enjoyed writing in Emmett's perspective. ^_^ And my beta enjoyed reading it, so I hope you did too. Tell me how my first try at Emmett was please. ^_^ _**

**_Keep Reading Everybody!_**

**_-TG_**


	6. Alone

****EDIT: Sorry for the Edit but I realized my author's note for the end somehow ended up in the middle of the chapter and I wasn't sure if anyone stopped there and that might cause confusions in the story and.... well, yeah, that bothered me. So I'm just fixing it. Don't worry though the next chapter's done, I just need to read it over again and I'll post it soon enough :) Sorry guys*****

**Hello everyone :)**

**I hope everyone had a great holiday. I know I did ^_^ So this is kind of an unusual chapter, but I hope you enjoy it. I have to say it was very hard to write... there's so much emotion present. Tell me if it succeeded in portraying those emotions in a review. **

**-TG**

**Oh, and by the way, this was actually much later than I expected it to be, because my editor originally told me she would edit it as soon as winter break began. -_- Unfortunately she did not tell me her family came in, leaving her incapable of doing so. Therefore, I already have the next chapter written. I'll edit that and try to post it before the new year. :) Enjoy the chapter!**

Chapter 5- Alone

Bella POV

I had the distinct feeling that I was dreaming again, and I was fairly certain this was not going to be a good dream. There was a distinct aura that I could feel when in a nightmare; one of incoming dread. And the location of this dream was definitely one that looked as though it could instill terror in your heart so drastically that you scream just thinking about that place. The forest I was in looked like it could prove to be both magical and terrifying—like it could be a scene in a fantasy novel or a horror movie. I was surrounded by trees on all sides; thick-trunked trees with huge spans of sprawling (and dangerous-looking for a klutz like myself) roots, branches full of wide leaves, a trunk covered in moss until the majority of the tree was fuzzy and green. I couldn't see my feet on the dirt below me, for a murky layer of fog coated the ground. But, in spite of the rather ominous appearance of the foliage around me, the worst part was the eerie quiet. In a forest like this I was sure there would be some sound—the hoot of an owl perhaps or the chirps of crickets or cicadas. But there were no sounds. The only things there were me, the trees, and the fog below me…. Or so it seemed.

Despite the seemingly isolated area, I felt that I wasn't alone. It wasn't exactly the feeling that I was being watched… more like I was being surrounded. It seemed like there was someone- or some_thing_- hiding in the trees around me, as if it were slowly circling me. It was then that I heard it: a laugh. It wasn't just any laugh though. It was the light, trilling laugh that could only come from my sister. I smiled tentatively, thinking maybe this nightmare wouldn't be bad after all. Maybe it was just a game of hide and seek with my sister… that couldn't be so bad, could it? I heard the laugh to my right and took a step in the general direction from which the laugh emanated, but as soon as I took a step the laugh changed origins. It was coming from behind me now, to the left of where I was previously standing. I frowned in confusion, and turned around. This time I was able to take two steps towards the sound before it changed directions again. It was to my left now, directly behind where I had been standing just moments ago at the start of the sound. I turned towards the sound, this time inching forward before I finally took a full step. As soon as my foot hit the ground, I stopped. Before me, in the dark abyss of the forest, appeared a pair of golden eyes. The eyes shocked me half to death, but upon further inspection I realized the eyes didn't look menacing at all. They eyes were squinted closed just a bit and shown with light as if that person were… _laughing._

There was no doubt that the laughing was coming from this person now, as the person continued to laugh until it was incessant. The tinkling laughter seemed to get louder and louder until it seemed to surround me, the voice somehow deepening in pitch as if it were slowing down, though it certainly was not. The laugh reverberated around the area until it was unbearable to my ears. I clamped my hands around my ears in an attempt to protect them, but the laugh seemed to permeate me from every direction. I looked back up at the eyes, holding their gaze in terror. The tinkling laughter turned to a malicious cackle, and the eyes blinked. When they were visible again, the golden irises had morphed into blood red. The transition was so shocking that I staggered backwards in fright, tripping over one of those invisible tree roots. I scrambled to get back up, turning away from the eyes without looking back. I started running into the opposite direction, the direction I had been facing initially. As soon as I got up, however, I froze. The laughing stopped as soon as I did, everything seeming to freeze in front of her. The chaos just a moment ago was ceased when she stepped through into the clearing. Alice stood at the other end of the clearing, hands clenched in fists at her side, head down, and red eyes looking up at me from under her dark bangs.

"_Bella._" Her voice was so high-pitched and sickeningly sweet that it seemed to pierce the air around us, making me flinch. When she said my name, it didn't sound excited or questioning. It sounded almost… longing. Like she was holding herself back from me, or like I was the only thing that could keep her alive and she was dying. So drastic was the tone of her voice that it scared me to the very core of my body. This was not _my_ Alice looking at me. This was… this was something else entirely.

"A-Alice?" I attempted to say, mumbling and stuttering in my fear. As soon as the word left my mouth, she was in front of me—suddenly 20 inches away instead of 20 feet away. She stood in the exact same position, as though she had teleported in the second that had passed. She didn't do anything or say anything else, just stood staring at me with those frightening blood red eyes. I tried to run away from her. This wasn't Alice. I needed to get away… but my brain seemed unable to command my body any more. I couldn't feel my legs enough to summon them to run.

Alice unclenched one hand and slowly started to lift it. The hand was moving so slowly and resolutely that it looked as though it was an independent limb; like it was moving of its own accord. No other part of her body moved—just that arm. Just before the fingertips of her hand were about to touch my cheek, another voice resounded from around us.

"No!!!!.._No..No..no...no....no_" The initial scream echoed around us. The hand dropped from my face suddenly as though the scream had pierced through the "Alice" in front of me like a dagger. Behind her in the trees, I saw more pairs of golden eyes; flashing from one spot of darkness to the other as if there were hundreds surrounding us. "Bella!!... _Bella… bella…ella…ella…lla… la…a. _Run!!!..._Run…run…run…un…n." _

This voice was so loud that I could feel the vibrations of the sound in my chest. But even so, it didn't pierce me as much as the voice of the body in front of me had. The voice yelling at me from all around was softer and warmer… like my sister's real voice was. In fact, it seemed like the real Alice was all around me, warning me to get away. Finally, her warning sank in. This time, when I tried to move again, the most I could accomplish was a twitch in my knee. But as I attempted the motion, the "Alice" in front of me pulled back the corners of her lips in a snarl. In fright, I frantically tried to move my legs again.

"BELLA!!!...._BELLA…Bella…bella…ella…lla…la…a..._BELLARUN!!!!..._BELLARUN…BellaRun... bellarun…ellarun…larun…run…un…n…_" Alice's voice desperately screamed at me, willing me to move. I finally was able to move my limbs again, but just as I gained control of my appendages, the other Alice's icy posture seemed to fracture as well. The snarl etched on her face had been frozen on as if everything she did was permanent, but they definitely were not. Now, as I scrambled with my arms and legs backwards in an attempt to escape, her head tilted to the side—tilting and tilting farther and farther until the angle of her neck with her shoulders didn't' seem humanly possible… but then again, this "Alice" didn't look human. Her red eyes shone with amusement, as if she were mocking me in my attempts to get away. The golden eyes surrounding me looked frightened as well, and they seemed to encourage me to keep moving. I kept moving now, the elliptical motions of running steps gradually becoming more natural to me again. I was running at my full speed now, and I could hear the angry snarl of the non-human Alice emanate from behind me. I ran harder, trying to get away, but now I could just barely hear the almost silent approach of footsteps. She was gaining distance on me very, _very_ quickly. I had to get away. I didn't know where I was going. I just knew I had to get away at that very moment!

I ran and ran; the darkness around me seeming to get deeper as I scurried along, and the footsteps behind me getting louder as they approached. Finally, when it seemed like all my attempts at escape were futile, the trees disappeared from around me. I ran out of the trees onto a road, deserted but for a waiting a car—my sister's car. I breathed a grateful sigh of relief and ran towards the comforting, familiar yellow Porsche. I yanked open the door, not worrying about being careful with the sickeningly expensive vehicle when I was running for my life from what appeared to be a demon possessing my sister's body. The car started immediately, and I thanked God for my luck. In this situation, it was like begging for a previously perfect car to begin having trouble. I put my hands on the wheel, kicking my leg out to hit the gas pedal. It lurched forward so quickly that I was pushed back into my seat. It was then that I nearly had a stroke.

I got no more than thirty feet away when an ear-shattering _slam_ made me hit the break. I came to a dead-stop immediately, my head rushing forward and nearly hitting the windshield. When I looked up through the glass, I was met with blood red eyes. I screamed in panic as I realized that "alice" had jumped on the car, and was now looking at me with her hands pressed to the glass and her feet planted to the hood. I sat there in shock as she slid her hand across the glass, the nails slicing into the glass making a horrifying screeching noise that made me cover my ears and grit my teeth together in fear. Not thinking about whether or not I was going to hurt her, I slammed on the gas again, making her fly off the hood. I knew I hadn't done any damage, however, for I saw in my side-view mirror as she landed on both feet behind the car. It didn't take a second of getting her bearings before she was running after the car. The arrow on the speedometer climbed and climbed, passing 100 miles per hour, then 110, 120, 130, 140, 150, _160, 170…_I didn't care about the speed I was going. I maintained control of the car somehow, though my hands were shaking uncontrollably. The road was dark and barren and a straight shot for as far as my headlights could reach. Still, no matter how fast the car went, I could see the running form behind me keeping up the pace.

After returning my gaze to the road in front of me, I was unable to keep my eyes from the mirrors. I didn't want to see her there, but I wanted to make sure she wasn't any closer. But when I looked back in the side-view mirror, she was gone. But could she really be gone? Could I have lost her?

I looked intently into the mirror, looking for any sign of the approaching figure. I sighed in relief when I saw none, and looked back at the road.

"_Bella."_ A voice whispered right next to my ear. My heart jumped out of my chest, and my foot hit the break, sending the car spiraling out of controls toward the trees. I wasn't worried about the trees though, when the demon Alice was sitting in the passenger seat beside me. _Objects in the mirror may be closer than they appear…_ I couldn't help but think. _No kidding._ My head was unable to comprehend the irony, however. I screamed in panic, and the red in her eyes glowed at the sound. As the car tumbled, flipped, and spiraled towards the trees she cackled devilishly, the sound surrounding me again as it reverberated throughout the interior of the car. I had nowhere to go. I was going to die. I could only hope that the impact of the car killed me instantly, knowing that whatever tortures the demon could think of would undoubtedly be a longer and much more painful death. I clenched my eyes shut, trying to lose consciousness before the impact with the trees. I gritted my teeth and prepared myself for the crash. But I could not prepare myself for the deafening crash when the car finally was stopped by the barricade of trees. The sound was so loud that I couldn't comprehend anything else. The car collapsed in around me, and I fell out of the seat as the car flipped once more onto its side. The driver's side window, now under me, shattered, and the few uncrushed pieces of me fell into the splinters of glass. Then…

_Silence._

The silence was almost as deafening as the chaos. I lay there, body mangled and crushed. I couldn't feel my arms or legs. I couldn't tell which way was up or down. I felt like I was drowning, the pressure on my lungs unbearable anymore. I felt wet all over, though I knew in the back of my mind that this wasn't water covering me: it was blood. I couldn't feel where I was bleeding, but I could smell the rust and salt smell permeate my nostrils. Through shaky eyelids, I tried to look around me. Vaguely, through what seemed like a veil, I watched the passenger seat above me. Alice had succeeded in opening the door and was pulling herself out. From what I could see, she wasn't hurt. In fact, it looked like there wasn't a scratch on her or a single drop of blood on her clothes, which is impressive considering that I had probably splattered my own all over the car. When she was out of the car, her face reappeared over the edge of the hole for the door, which had dramatically shrunk from being crushed by the impact. It was then that I really saw her. The film over my eyes cleared just a little bit, and the first thing I could really see was the gold in her eyes. I could then see the perfect, pale skin of her cheeks, and the pale lips of her mouth. This wasn't the girl who had caused by accident just now. This girl, unlike the one from before, was _my_ Alice. Unable to feel my body or locate where anything was or summon my brain for complicated thought process, I couldn't really remember much about the accident. I just knew that I was happy that my Alice was safe. A light seemed to encircle her, and it glowed too bright for my eyes. I closed my eyes slowly to shield them from the light, and I was only able to summon them open again to see Alice slowly begin to close the passenger door. I watched her close the door slowly, sad that the pretty image of the glow and her face had to go away. Finally, she had closed the door enough so that the darkness had surrounded me. The last I heard was the sound of the door closing on me…

_Click._

I screamed. The sound of the scream was so blood-curdling that I didn't even realize the sound was coming from my own mouth. Finally, I was able to open my eyes and look around. My eyes were not covered in film, they were as clear as they could be in the darkness of the car. The car, which I may add, was in perfect condition. The roof hadn't collapsed in, the doors were still in place, and everything seemed to be fine. Except, if you've ever woken up from a particularly terrifying dream, you'll know that it doesn't leave your mind when you wake. The dream was still so clear and terrifying in my mind as it replayed over and over again, that I couldn't breathe. I was overwhelmed by the fear. It was still dark, and looking at my phone I realized it was very, very early morning. I could see out the window, and no one was around. But I whimpered in fright anyway, expecting at anytime for a pair of chilling red eyes to appear out of the surrounding darkness.

"It was just a dream." I whispered to myself, trying to dull my frantic and half-conscious thoughts. "Just a dream. Just a really, really, really, really, really bad dream. Just a dream, just a dream, just a dream… Only. A. Dream." But no matter how many times I repeated that to myself, it didn't seem like it had been a dream. The only thing telling me that the vision of my nightmare hadn't been real was the fact that- upon inspection- I could use all of my limbs. I could wiggle my toes, and locate the various parts of my body. I wasn't in pieces. I wasn't bleeding. I wasn't even in pain. I was just scared to a point where I realized how alone I was. I was an independent person normally, and I could take care of myself. But it was this point, where I was so terrified that it didn't matter how old or how independent I was, that I really needed someone to hold me and tell me that everything would be ok. I needed someone to tell me it was only a dream, instead of having to do it myself. I needed someone to turn on every light to prove that I wasn't in the dark anymore. I needed someone to put their arms around me and rock me back to a dreamless sleep when I was too afraid that my nightmares would return. I needed someone to tell me not to cry, but cry with me when I couldn't help it. And it was right there in that moment, when I realized just how much I needed Alice, that I realized just how alone I was.

And I cried. I cried more than I had been able to in the entire past two years of my life. I cried so hard that the sobs became silent. I lost track of the fountains- not tears- of water pouring from my eyes. I was all. Alone. With my feet resting on the passenger seat, I pulled my knees to my chest and cried into my arms… until I heard my feet slide past the crinkly material of paper. My crying stopped at once, my head perking up in alert. I was one hundred percent positive that I hadn't left Alice's note or any spare paper on the passenger seat before I fell asleep. And now that I thought about, I hadn't been alerted from sleep by my screaming. I had heard a noise. I whimpered again, realizing that something had happened in my sleep.

I slowly lowered my hand to the soles of my shoes until the paper was beneath my fingers, and I jumped a little at the feeling. I slowly lifted it up until it was illuminated in the beam of light streaming through the window from the light of the parking lot I was sitting in. I realized who's hand writing this was immediately, as I had read a note with that same hand writing over and over again until I had committed that hand writing to memory. This was a note. From Alice. When this finally hit me, my eyes hit the page, transfixed on the few sentences written there.

_**Bella,**_

_**I miss you, but under no circumstances can you find me. I know it's hard, but it's not safe for you to be with me anymore and it's not safe for you to be out on your own. Don't worry about me. Just go home, Bella.**_

_**Your Sister,**_

_**Alice**_

It took me a good ten minutes before I was able to process what had just happened. But then, slowly, my mind caught up and switched from terrified and shocked to…angry.

"_WHAT?!" _I screamed, the sound of my voice filling the tiny space of the car but not shocking me more than I already was. Alice had contacted me. Alice had come all this way, had been only a few feet, maybe even a few inches, away from my sleeping form… and hadn't spoken to me. I was infuriated that my sister could be _so _close, and I hadn't gotten a chance to see her, to hold her, to make sure she was safe. The fact that she was willing to hurt me like that was shocking, but I wasn't thinking so much about that. I was thinking about how long I'd been asleep. After I realized I had been asleep for only five hours or so, my mind finally refocused. If she had been here within the past five hours, she couldn't be too far away. I was sure she couldn't be far. If my hysterical consciousness had been somewhat correct, then she had just been here. Only minutes ago, I had heard the sound of someone trying to quietly close the door from the outside, which means that she couldn't have left more than ten minutes ago. Only ten minutes ago…Without as much as a second thought, I started up the car again. I wasn't quite sure where I was going, but I didn't care. Alice had been here. Alice had to be nearby.

I started the car and brought both of my hands up to grip the wheel, but one hand still had the letter clenched inside. I glanced down one last time at the letter, looked back up, and did a double-take back at the letter when I realized I had missed a vital piece of new information. I realized there was more written on the back of the letter. There, in the center of the page, was my name in Alice's perfect handwriting, but that wasn't what interested me. In the corner of the little square of paper were two more words, though these were obviously not written by the same person. This writing was in a messier, thicker handwriting. But I stopped focusing on the hand writing, because what really mattered was what those words were:

_Forks, Washington_

I was pretty sure that was a place… a town. And I was completely sure that I had the start I had been looking for. I knew where I was going.

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**So, any thoughts? Like I said, as mostly a dream, it wasn't exactly a normal chapter... I don't know about you, and I've never written so much fear into one person, but it actually kind of scared me to write it. hahahaha, well I hoped you enjoyed it. **

**Happy Holidays everyone**

**Keep Reading!**

**-TG**


	7. Seventeen Hours

**Hey everyone,**

**I have to start off by sincerely apologizing for the update delay... ugh, I've only had this chapter done since December. I was very unsure about how this turned out though, so I wanted to make sure my editor, Alex, read it before I published. Needless to say, she has not exactly been on the ball about editing. -_- So, I was sick of waiting and making you wait, so I simply read it over myself and posted it for you. Therefore, I'm very nervous for this... feedback is greatly, greatly appreciated on this one especially. Thanks for any help you can give**

**On a more positive note, you will not have to wait nearly as long for the next chapter, I can assure you. I've had that one done for a while as well, and if Alex decides not to edit it before next Sunday, I'll read it over myself. No worries ^_^ So we're getting to turning points here! (Yay! *Squeals*)**

**PLEASE tell me what you guys think! I apologize again for the very loooong wait**

**-TG**

* * *

Chapter 6- Seventeen Hours

Alice POV

"No!" I screamed. "He can't! He wouldn't! He couldn't!" Though I had just seen the vision as clear as day, I couldn't believe it. I summoned the vision of Emmett over and over again in my mind, trying to comprehend how someone with the brain of a super-computer and the wisdom of an 80 year old man could be so incredibly _stupid._ I growled in frustration, wishing he was faster than even he thought he was so he'd be here and I could give him a piece of my mind.

In the back of my mind, though, I was almost glad Emmett had yet to return. If he were here right now, there would have been a good possibility that I would have done something I would have regretted later; that I would have killed him… well, I may have tried. I was sure that if a fight had ensued, I would have been grossly inferior to Emmett's strength and fighting skills. That time I had spent in the vampire army had done absolutely nothing for my fighting skills, seeing as I hadn't actually been around the army long enough to absorb any knowledge. Jasper, on the other hand, had been around the army for over a hundred years, rendering _his_ fighting skills far superior to Emmett's, even with his amazing strength. I had no doubt in my mind that if Emmett and I would have had a serious confrontation, then Jasper would have taken the situation over quickly to save my butt and no doubt would have killed our brother. Yes, I was glad Emmett wasn't here yet, because that would have been bad… but _this._ What Emmett had done was so much worse! I yelled in anger at my stupid, idiotic older brother. How could he? What gave him the audacity to do what he had done: to not only dissuade my sister from returning home like I told her she should, but to practically invite her straight to our home. How could he be so dense as to think that had been a good idea?

I resisted the urge to grab the nearest thing to me and break it in half, for Esme would not be very happy if her things were destroyed when she came home (other than the hole I had worn in her nice wooden floor from all my pacing…). I wrung my hands to give them something to do, but it could not distill my anger. I heard Jasper approaching me, probably to find out what had made me so suddenly furious and disbelieving, but I ran. I wouldn't let him calm me down, because I needed to get angry. After the pure stupidity of what my brother did, I needed an angry moment—no, I _deserved_ an angry moment. This, as Emmett's and Edward's sister, and Jasper's fiancée, was my prerogative. With boys as frustrating as those three in the family, I was allowed _my_ crazy moment. And, oh boy, did I go crazy.

I stormed as well as you can while running at multiple miles per hour to the garage, where I knew Rosalie was. She had been there for the past couple hours with her car, either oblivious of or not caring enough to see what the chaos inside was about. When I had manipulated Emmett into delivering the message for me, she hadn't come inside wondering why I felt the need to trick her only too susceptible husband into doing me favor. When she had realized what was going on in the house without her, she had most likely chuckled briefly about how gullible her husband was and then went back to working on her car. Then, when I had just screamed and growled in frustration, I hadn't heard her react at all, not even a flinch. Rosalie was so naturally bored and unimpressed that it was humorous, but right then I wasn't laughing.

I slammed open the door to the garage, a large crack appearing in the wood. I didn't worry so much about the door, and more about how I was going to murder my sister's husband.

"Rosalie!" I appeared before the body lying on the ground under the BMW. "Rosalie!"

No response. I heard her tinkering away with the inner workings of the car, but she did not appear from beneath the vehicle. I glared at her form, reaching down and grabbing the leg of her jeans. Pulling hard on the material (not hard enough to rip the jeans though, because that would be a crime), I yanked her from beneath the car. The rest of her body followed her leg until I could see her grease-stained face appear from under the car. She was glaring back at me, staring up from the ground. Her hair was in disarray around her face from being dragged across the garage floor, and her face was covered in black smudges, yet somehow she remained undeniably gorgeous. I almost laughed at our situation; me, holding the leg of her jeans in my hand, and she, dragged across the garage floor and glaring up at me from the ground. I _almost_ laughed.

"_What_ do you _want,_ Alice?" She sneered, but then smirked. "Or more specifically, what did my husband do now that has you freaking out and wasting my valuable time?"

I was about to explode. I was about to tell Rosalie how her husband was the huge idiot who was leading my sister to her death, but then I realized that Rosalie didn't know I had a sister to begin with… and I really didn't feel like telling her, especially with her jealous tendencies. My mind cleared very briefly in time for me to realize that this would be a very bad idea. Yes, that was certain. Telling her now, when she was already annoyed, wouldn't be a good idea. If I did tell her…Who knows? If Emmett didn't lead Bella to her death, Rosalie might kill her out of jealousy.

Bella and I had our whole childhood together and a genetic connection, while Rosalie just had two years and a similar situation in common with me. Rosalie was my sister, and she thought she was one of a kind that way. And, if there was one thing about this life that Rosalie loved, it was that she pretty much was one of a kind. Not only that, but Bella had the one thing Rosalie would literally kill for: humanity. Rosalie wanted to be human again more than anything else in the world. She was stunningly beautiful, more so than a human could ever be, and she had the love of her life in Emmett… but she would trade it all for the mortality she once had. It was sad really; that she'd be willing to trade everything she had for that.

I had had to trade all of that for Jasper and the life I would have with him, but in the end it hadn't really been a thought-out choice. When Nettie had attacked me over two years ago, I hadn't been able to make a decision on whether or not I wanted to be a vampire. But even so, I wasn't sure if I would go back and change things if I could. If I had been told how hard my life as a vampire would be but how wonderful a life with Jasper could be, I didn't know which path I would take. It was too hard to have to choose between true love and family.

Thinking of such sobering thoughts, I was calmed a bit. I dropped her leg, and she let it fall to the ground with a thud. I tried to recover a bit without raising too many questions. "It's—It's nothing. I just—you're husband is just an idiot. That's all. I'm just angry."

She raised a perfect blonde eyebrow and scoffed at me. "Angry at my husband for being an idiot… not an unusual occurrence, I must say, but do you have any cause to be angry at my husband really? What has he done now?"

I shook my head and growled under my breath. Of course, now would be the moment where Rosalie gets curious. Up until this point, she had been absolutely uninterested in anything that happened with me besides online shopping sprees. I sighed, knowing I wouldn't be able to keep this from everyone for much longer anymore. "I… ugh, you'll know soon enough. I'm sure that as soon as your husband gets home, I'll have no choice in the matter anyway… oh, when he get's home… I hope you don't love him too much." I started mumbling towards the end

She scoffed at my statement, and asked, "Why?" Finally, sitting up from where she had been lying on the garage floor, she acknowledged the conversation with only the slightest interest. I didn't often threaten Emmett, yet she seemed so nonchalant about the situation that it might seem to another like this was an every day occurrence in the Cullen family.

I sighed, not really caring to repeat myself but doing so anyway for some reason. "I hope you don't love your husband too much. Because when he gets home, I'm going to kill him." My anger reignited a little bit, and I continued. "I'm going to shred him to pieces and burn them. And then I'm going to put back together those little burnt pieces again, reincarnate him, and kill him again! That ignorant, idiotic, empty-headed, pain in the—"

"Alice!" She interrupted my next derogatory term. "Alice, _what_ in the world did he do?" She was using her no-nonsense tone of voice now, and I knew she would no longer be entertained by this little game any more unless she got the information she wanted without any further stalling. Still, I wasn't ready to tell Rosalie. When I told my family about my other, very human family, I would tell as many of them at once. I stalled just a bit longer, hoping that Rosalie would just play along.

"So, is that a no? You won't mind me murdering your husband?" I asked, hoping that the tone of my voice didn't seem as furious to Rosalie as it did to me. I wanted to sound as sarcastic and witty as I usually was with my siblings, but for some reason I couldn't portray something so completely polar opposite of what I was actually feeling. This was odd, considering I had become an expert at shielding my true feelings. Two years ago, back in my first weeks of vampirism, I had had to mask my emotions from Jasper to hide the horrible pain I was in during my starvation. I had had to protect him from my pain, because I knew it would only bring him pain as well. I had done so successfully for as long as I had needed to. Even now I was shocked that I had been strong enough to shield my emotions from him while in such a vulnerable and crazed state; strong enough to keep him from the pain, even though I couldn't protect myself. And now as part of the Cullen family, it wasn't just Jasper I had to be able to shield emotions from—I also had Edward's annoyingly convenient power to deal with as well.

It was fairly easy to hide your emotions—I just had to think of something happy or sad or whatever emotion I _needed_ to show. But now that Edward was around, I couldn't think of my sister to make me sad anymore. I couldn't _ever_ think of my sister except for those rare, opportunistic moments like these where Edward was off hunting or in Alaska visiting the only other vegetarian vampires, the Denali Coven. However difficult it had been, I had found a way. Over the past two years, in my vast amount of free time, I had discovered that photographic memory was immensely helpful in learning new languages. Which means, of course, that learning French, Spanish, and Latin had been a piece of cake. I was currently working on German and Portuguese, but I had found that three languages were sufficient for distracting my mind for long enough. All I had to do to block Edward was recite things- the Gettysburg address, the national anthem, an entire Broadway musical- and translate each into various languages. The worked fine and dandy with Edward's gift.

But with Rosalie it was a different story. Now I could shield my emotions or thoughts perfectly, but it wouldn't matter—Rosalie couldn't sense those things like Jasper and Edward could. Even though she didn't have any special vampire power other than her miraculously impossible beauty, she wasn't, by any definition, dumb as her hair color would stereotypically suggest. She could see what I had so stupidly and blatantly revealed to her. Not only that, but Rosalie wasn't one to let things go automatically. So I was stuck. As if confirming my thoughts, she spoke. "Um… let me think about that…Would I mind if you murdered my husband?" She pretended to play along for a total of one seventh of a second, before letting the annoyed expression show again. "Uh, yeah, Alice, I think I probably would. But, you know, _maybe_, just maybe, if you would tell me what the hell is up I could help you figure this thing out with him. I mean, what's wrong? He's not even here is he? Where did he go?"

Rosalie stood up now, and she was much more intimidating now that she wasn't on the floor. I might have been in heels, but so was she. And she, along with her heels, was close to a foot taller than me. This was definitely much more convincing than it had been when she was dragged across the floor, or sitting a few feet below me. I stammered a little, afraid of just how far Rosalie would go to get her answers. "Um… well, ok, just hold on for a minute Rosalie." My eyes went out of focus for a minute as I looked to the future. "Your husband is going to be home in exactly thirty-two minutes and 27 seconds. Can you wait that long for an explanation?"

Snatching a rag from the hood of her car and wiping the grease off her face and hands, she didn't look like she would agree with me. Yet, she did. "Fine." She said, though she didn't look like it was fine at all. "You have thirty three minutes to tell me what's going on."

When she said I had thirty three minutes, I had no doubt that that was _all_ the time I had—not one second more or one second less. On that note, I nodded in relief, and sped out of the garage as quick as vampirely possible. To my dismay, I heard Rosalie trail after me, keeping up to my pace easily as I ran towards the living room to wait. I positioned myself so that I was standing directly in front of the window where Emmett would jump into the house in thirty one minutes and 6 seconds. Rosalie pushed up the window in preparation for Emmett's arrival and, probably realizing what I was doing by watching the window intently, took a position on the couch closest to that window, as if she may need to come between Emmett and me once he made his appearance… which I can't exactly say was a bad idea. I didn't take my gaze away from the open window as I heard Jasper join us in the room. He had most definitely heard my run-in with Rosalie in the garage and had joined me in the living room to wait for Emmett's arrival as well… maybe even to hold me back should I get out of control. Though, now that I thought about it, he probably didn't know why I was so freaked out about Emmett's return.

I realized I was right in my assumption as he voiced the question. "What's going on?" The way he said it told me that he knew I wasn't going to turn around and look him in the eye to respond. I opened my mouth to speak, but the words were cut off.

It turns out I didn't have to answer him at all, for Rosalie did it for me. "Apparently we're waiting for Emmett to get home before we get an answer."

"How long do we have until he arrives?" He asked, still speaking towards my general direction, though he was aware of my lack of response. Rosalie was the one responding.

"As of now: Twenty-three minutes and forty-four seconds." With that statement, there was silence. We were silent for twenty-three minutes and forty-one seconds. At that mark, Rosalie spoke again, counting down the last moments until I knew Emmett would appear through the window. "Three…Two…One…"

With every second she counted, I could feel the anger boiling up in me again. Then, finally, when the time was up, he appeared. He rested his hand on the open window sill and vaulted his huge form through the window. It was impressive that he could get his huge body through that window without shattering the frame, but he did it. As soon as he stepped forward into the room, he froze. He became absolutely paralyzed under the gaze of Rosalie, Jasper, and me. Laughing nervously, he broke the silence, "Hey, Guys… What's up?"

Hearing his voice and unable to control my anger any longer, I growled. I felt the creeping effect of Jasper's calming power come over me, but- before it affected me too much- I lunged for Emmett and finally let the blood-thirsty snarl escape my chest. Rosalie and Jasper were acting as soon as I was. Rosalie was in front of Emmett in a crouch; as if she could protect him better than he could protect himself. Jasper latched onto my arms from behind so that I was unable to advance towards my brother even an inch further. He had a firm grip on my arms so that I couldn't move, though he wasn't hurting me at all. He just held me long enough so that his power could fully affect me. Soon enough, I was calmed down to a level where I wouldn't lunge at Emmett's throat as soon as Jasper let go of me.

I shifted a little out of Jasper's arms, to signal him to let go of me. He seemed reluctant to, and I wasn't sure if it was because he didn't trust me or he just didn't want to let me go… I wanted to think it was the latter, of course, but I couldn't be sure. I stepped up until I was a foot away from Emmett. His face wasn't shocked, so I assumed he understood why I was angry—well, had been angry, because it was impossible to feel angry with Jasper around making you feel all warm and fuzzy when you didn't want to… the jerk. In my close proximity, Rosalie growled, as if daring me to move an inch closer to her and her husband. Emmett placed a hand on her shoulder, gently pushing her to the side. "Rose, it's fine. It's just Alice, for Christ's sake!" Disdainfully, Rosalie moved away from him, and Emmett looked towards me. "So, sis, I believe you have some 'splaining to do. What's all this I hear about a—"

"_How could you?_" I hissed, not bothering to hear his next taunting remark. "How _dare_ you? Where do you get the audacity to do what you did? How could you think that was a good idea? Do you even understand the severity of what you've done to me? And- more importantly- to my sister?"

"Well, I understand that you lied to all of us and especially me." Emmett responded, the sarcastic smirk gone from his face. He seemed sincerely hurt, which was a rare occasion for him. He was always so happy and so sarcastic—always willing to smile and make things better. But I was glad that he wasn't happy today. After what he did to me, he didn't deserve to be happy at this moment.

"Ok, yeah, so I tricked you into delivering the letter for me. Big deal! I'm asking you this one more time—do you understand how serious this is? What this will do to my sister?" I really tried to comprehend his train of thought; how he could have thought this was a good idea. I genuinely wanted to know his thoughts just then. But it wasn't Emmett's thoughts I got.

Rosalie spoke in place of someone else again. "Alice! What is going on?! I don't understand: what's the problem? I'm fine. Emmett hasn't done anything wrong to me." After Rosalie spoke, there was a loaded silence. Everyone but Rosalie realized simultaneously that she was the only one who didn't know about my secret. Rosalie was unaware that I had a sister other than her. This was the moment where I had to tell her the truth, even though I sincerely didn't want to. Thanks to Emmett I didn't have to.

"She isn't talking about _you_, Rose." He said it slowly and seriously, as if explaining to a child. Rosalie looked at Emmett in confusion, then to Jasper who stood quietly behind me in observation, then to me. When her eyes rested on me, they narrowed into a scrutinizing glare. It pierced right through me and terrified me even more than I already was.

"Alice?" She asked; the blatant accusation present in her voice. She didn't just say my name by her statement. She had asked me- no, commanded me- to confirm Emmett's allegation for her.

I closed my eyes, and pressed my lips together trying to shut out the world around me. Finally, I whispered, "It's true." The words were barely above a whisper, but I had no doubt that Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper could here me. "I have a sister… A _human_ sister. One who now knows of my existence in the world still."

"_What?!_" She hissed. "How could you—Why would you—do you understand what _you've_ done Alice? By not telling us, by not giving us any warning, you have risked our entire family! What if she goes looking for you? What if she happens to find you? How could you be so irrespons—"

"_Rosalie._" Jasper warned.

But I knew every word she was saying was correct. In my effort to protect myself and my sister, I had neglected to protect my family. That _was_ irresponsible and inexcusable. "No," I told him. "She's right. This is my fault. I didn't think about how this would affect everyone around me. It was so selfish of me."

Jasper growled and began to speak in protest, but I interrupted him. I opened my eyes, looking straight into Rosalie's. "As a human, there was no one in the world more important to me than my sister. Her name is Bella. She was fourteen when I vanished. I left the house to go shopping one day in Houston, but I never went home. I had this same power as a human, though it was much less advanced and much more uncontrollable at the time, and I had seen what I hadn't known to be vampires in a vision. I saw them killing my sister. I didn't allow her to go with me, but I knew that I had to go. I met Jasper that day. He saved me from being killed by Nettie, but I was changed. Bella was everything to me before I met Jasper, and I was everything to her. What you need to understand is that I have Jasper now—he shares that place in my heart with my sister, but I don't love one more than the other. And- while I am still missing a huge part of me without my sister- I still have Jasper to fill that void. But Bella? Bella has no one. When I left Houston, I wrote Bella a note saying that I was alive and happy, but we couldn't be together anymore… I just couldn't bear it. Knowing that she was suffering? Knowing that she thought I was gone when I was somewhat alive and happy felt like it would kill me, had I not already been dead. I had to reassure her that she wasn't alone in this world, so I fought to protect her—and that was my mistake. Now she's trying to find me. She's only sixteen years old and she's out in the world alone. I thought that if I told her to go home, she might listen. I foolishly thought, once again, that I could fix this without having to bring all of you into it. Knowing that I couldn't see her myself without risking her life, I sent Emmett to deliver a message to her under the notion that it was a bet. And now?" I closed my eyes, the familiar aching sob building in my chest as I found myself unable to speak anymore.

Emmett, as if finally realizing what was happening, spoke in a grim voice. "Now she's coming here. She's coming because I told her where we were."

Rosalie glanced back and forth between Emmett and me again, as if not believing that she had missed so much that Emmett and I had understood. Finally, she settled her glare back on me. "I thought you said you didn't remember much about your human life?" Her tone of voice was spiteful and mocking, but I tried not to let it sting me as much as it could have.

"I don't." My voice was still smooth as always, but it was a bit more high-pitched than normal with all the emotion finally letting itself out. "The only thing I remember is Bella and the day I was changed. I can only remember the one part of my life that I think mattered to me most: my sister. I think that means that she was more important to me than I can even remember. Rosalie, don't you understand?"

She didn't look at me as she spoke, but started to retreat from the room. "No, Alice, I don't think that I do understand. I don't have a human family, and I don't lie to the only family that I've got."

She left me staring after her as she disappeared from sight. Emmett remained for a few seconds, looking up apologetically from where he stood. "I'm sorry, sis—"

"Don't." I said, and closed my eyes against the pain of hurting my family again. When Emmett left the room, I turned to Jasper and let him envelop me in his arms. I whimpered a little pitifully, and welcomed the calm feeling he washed through me. "Jasper… what am I going to do? That went horribly… and soon I'll have to explain this all again for Esme and Edward and Carlisle. How do I explain this to the people who took us in without a second thought? How do I explain to our brother and to our parents that I was lying all this time? I just can't do it to them."

He wiped my hair away from my forehead and kissed it. "Alice, my love, it's going to be ok. I promise you. Edward will get over it probably faster than anyone else. Esme and Carlisle are the two most compassionate people I've encountered in all of my one hundred and fifty years. They are not going to kick you out onto the street because you wanted to protect someone you love dearly. I have no doubt they would only be proud of you for it, no matter how unfortunate the result is turning out to be. Rosalie is a different case entirely. All she can see right now is that you lied to _her_, not that you lied to your whole family to protect Bella. Emmett is genuinely sorry for what he did, and he realizes the severity of his actions. And, even though he made a critical mistake, the world is not going to crumble. We don't have to leave the one place where we can feel at home just because you think you're weaker than you actually are. If there's any lie at all here, it's not that you kept your sister a secret from them, it's that you think you're too weak to handle these things. I know that absolutely because you are the strongest and most selfless person that I think has ever lived or existed." He paused, probably testing my emotions to see if I was truly calmed. "Now, I need you to look to the future for me. Find out when Bella will get here and when Esme, Edward, and Carlisle will return."

I nodded, sniffled for a second, and then looked to the future, focusing on both my sister and the absent members of my family. I was relieved that my first vision wasn't of my sister, bloody and dead on the ground. All I saw was the Porsche pulling past the entrance sign to our town. I wanted to breathe a sigh of relief that she would make it safely, but I couldn't bring myself to do so when I knew that I'd only be miles away from her in only… man, she was driving fast. I frowned, concerned at how short of a time it would take her to arrive.

I summoned a vision of Esme, Edward, and Carlisle and- when I realized when they were getting here- I cursed my dumb luck.

"So?" Jasper asked me. "When is everyone coming home?"

I looked up at him, sincerely hoping that he was right. I prayed that he was right; that everything would be ok despite how much the universe was plotting against me. "Carlisle, Esme, and Edward decided to get home early. They'll be here in seventeen hours."

"And Bella? How long until she gets to Forks?"

I shook my head at how sickeningly convenient this had worked out. My mouth was pressed into a hard, annoyed line until I muttered his answer.

"Seventeen hours."


	8. So Close

**Hello Everyone! :)**

**So here we have the next chapter in the in the sequel to the Witness. Ah, things are starting to pick up... Yay. ^_^ So excited. Sorry for the delay, but my editor is being a total slacker. I keep giving her another day, another day, another, blah, blah, blah, etcetera, etcetera, but she just says she's "too busy"... bull crap. My schedule is ten times busier than hers is, yet I somehow manage to write this fanfiction, my own book, and edit when she fails at doing so. Ah well, I'm just venting here. Anyways... here is the next chapter and I apologise for any mistakes made. I have this thing where it's really hard to read my own work, because I get so bored of it, so it's hard for me to edit my own work. But here it is, in rough form I assure you.**

**The reason I have this one out today instead of waiting for my editor is because I have finished the next chapter, and I assure you... it's a doozy. In a good way. Haha, the next chapter is the point I've been waiting for since half-way through the previous instalment. A section of it I wrote a looooong time ago, and have adapted to fit to the current situation. It was the first part of the sequel I ever wrote. I'm very excited about it ^_^ nonetheless, that one must be edited as well. But I'm a rather impatient person, so trust me I want to get it out as soon as possible!**

**Keep Reading everyone!**

**Tell me what you think of the chapter in a review!**

**-TG**

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Chapter 7- So Close

Bella POV

After stopping at a twenty-four hour gas station to acquire Oregon and Washington state maps to accompany my California state map, I calculated just how long it would take me to get from Sacramento to Forks: Fourteen hours. According to this, it would take fourteen hours to get there, but I was fairly certain I could get there in less than that. It was exactly three a.m. now, which meant that not many people would be on the roads this late at night—or, I should say, early in the morning. Maybe, if I drove fast enough, I could get myself there in twelve hours.

_Twelve hours._ I thought, in awe of those two words. I couldn't comprehend that, after this past week of wandering aimlessly across the country in search of Alice, I was finally getting somewhere. Now, with this new clue, I had a good chance of actually finding Alice. I'd never heard of Forks, but it couldn't be that big of a city, could it? If I hurried, and got some help there, I might be able to find my sister within the next few days. I could be with Alice again, and I could finally meet this dream man that she had and give my approval. Then, once we reacquainted, I could change my name and live with her. We could live our lives as a family again. It would be just like we had always decided we would do…

Only, I had a feeling that my perfect fairytale ending was only a stretch of my imagination. I couldn't help but remember that Alice said in her letters: in both, there had been a definite undertone of desperation. It didn't seem so much that she didn't want to see me, but was afraid of seeing me; or, more appropriately, that I should be afraid to see her. But why I would be afraid of my sister ever was beyond my capability of thought. Just at that moment, however, the flash of a memory entered my mind; not of an actual past occurrence, but a memory of a dream—two dreams to be specific. Twice now I had had dreams in which Alice was a frightening demon with glowing, red eyes, but I shook my head at the thought. Not only did I have no desire to relive those dreams, but I refused to allow myself to see Alice in any negative perspective. Alice would always be my sister; no matter how determined she was to stay away from me. There was really nothing that could keep me from finding her. Even if I were to spend the rest of my life searching the world for her, I would do so just to find Alice again. But, somehow, I felt that I wouldn't have to wait my whole life to see her again.

With this new sense of hope, I took to the road. At this early hour of the morning, there was hardly anyone on the highways between California and Oregon and even less in between Oregon and Washington. Within a short enough time, I found myself crossing the Oregon border into Washington. As each minute passed, I felt more anxious to be in the place where I knew instinctively Alice was located.

When I reached Olympia, Washington my hands and legs were shaking so badly that I had to stop to park at a convenience store. It was noon then. I had been driving for nine hours straight without stopping for so much as a restroom or food break—not even going inside on the few pit stops needed to refill the gas tank. I could feel the incessant pounding of my throbbing head in my ears, which had acquired a horrible pain from the silence. I hadn't spoken or turned the radio on during my race to get here. Finally, after sitting in the car for a bit longer and willing myself not to turn the car back on and haul out of this parking lot towards Alice, I yanked the keys out of the car and grabbed my wallet. The store I was in front of seemed nice enough and there were people coming in and out, but I locked the doors behind me nonetheless. I didn't want to take any chances with any daring person who thought they could rob someone in broad daylight in front of multiple witnesses. If my car was stolen it would make getting to Forks to find Alice ten times more difficult. If someone were to steal my money, I would be left without any resources until I found Forks, most likely. Even then- if Alice happened to not be there like I thought she would be, I would have to find a job until I could conjure up the money to continue my search.

I opened the door to the convenience store and looked inside, my mouth watering just a little at the thought and sight of food. I went to the restroom first, not having realized how desperately I needed one after so long sitting in the car. After getting a few different drinks from the various refrigerators, I found a hot sandwich in the ready-made food section. I brought all my items up to the register, stamping my foot impatiently as the cashier rung up the various items. At the last minute, I remembered to add forty dollars in gas on top of my other purchases.

"Which pump?" He asked in a bored tone.

I looked behind me at the fuel stations. All of them were vacant, so I shrugged when I responded. "Whichever one, I guess. My car's the yellow one, so just add it on when I pull into one could you?

He looked past my head to where my car was parked and did a rapid double take. "Sure, yeah, but hold up for a second—A Porsche? A Porsche 911 Turbo? _That'_s your car?"

I laughed nervously at the situation and shrugged it off again. "Actually it's not mine. It's my sister's. I'm… borrowing it for a few days." A possible story seemed to unravel in my mind as I summoned one. "Right now, actually, I'm bringing it back to her."

"Oh yeah?" he asked, oddly curious now that he realised what kind of car I was driving. "I see you have Texas license plates… your sister live around here?"

I narrowed my eyes a little at him, somewhat annoyed at his curiosity. It sounded like he was implying that I stole the car. The story in my mind began to get more and more elaborate, so much so that I began to yearn for this much easier, nicer story that I had conjured in my mind. "Yeah, she just moved out here with her boyfriend to Washington. She asked me to bring her car up to her after she moved in so she wouldn't have to get it shipped all the way from Texas. That way, I could visit her in her new home and do her a favour as well. Actually…" The plan in my mind worked itself out quickly, now working a way so it could work to my advantage. "I'm having a little trouble finding the town, and I can't seem to get a hold of my sister on her cell. You think you could help me? Maybe you've heard of it. It's called Forks?"

The cashier laughed, as if he was on the inside of a joke that was way beyond me. When he realised that I had no clue why he was laughing, he stopped abruptly, breaking it off into an awkward cough. "Yeah, I've definitely heard of it. It's a little, tiny town about three hours north from here. You shouldn't have any trouble finding your sister though—there can't be a population of more than 4,000 people there."

I blinked a few times quickly, a little taken back. That couldn't be possible: four thousand people? There was that many people at my old high school! Without even realising it, the cashier had considerably raised my morale more than he could have even recognised. This meant that I could see Alice in less than four hours. I mean, in towns like that, everyone knows everyone right? If I just asked around when I reached the town, finding where she was living would be absolutely no problem. "Thanks…" I muttered, stepping away with my food and drinks slowly. "Thank you very much."

I walked away, hearing his final mutter "you're welcome." I started my car pulling it over to the gas station to fill up. As I rested against the side of the car, waiting as the nozzle pumped more fuel into the tank, I began to think in wonder about how Alice would have changed in our time apart. She might have grown out her hair or cut it even shorter than it had already been in its little pixie cut. It's not like she couldn't pull off anything she tried. Would her face look older to me? Would these past two years of a completely different world with new experiences reflect in her milk chocolate coloured eyes, which were so much like mine? I hoped from my very being that I'd know the answers to these questions soon. Something in me believed I would, and my instincts seemed to be leading me everywhere these days. So far, however, my instincts had led me closer and closer to what I wanted, so I could only assume that I should finally let loose and just trust them. That and Alice were the only things I could think about as I sped out of the gas station parking lot, eating my food and drinking one of my various drinks absent-mindedly. Even then, however, I could only think about how Alice would kill me if she knew I was eating in her car. At the thought of having the same neurotic, loveable, controlling girl I had grown up with back in my life, I smiled- for what felt like the first time in over two years.

There are certain pleasures in life that people often take for granted—like the whispered I love you from your mom as she tucks you into bed; or your dad putting a blanket over you after you fell asleep on the couch watching a television show together; or hugging your sibling for a cheesy family photo, that you both loathe but do it anyway because your parents bribed you with five bucks each (though you promised not to tell your other parent that the parent who offered you the money bribed you in the first place). As the manipulative children we naturally are, of course we agree to not tell the other parent, therefore gaining ten dollars in the process. All of those moments are precious and important aspects in a person's life, but I honestly believe that none of those moments could have compared to the moment where I was driving down the road and I came upon the sign that read: "The City of Forks Welcomes You."

It was big, green, and partially covered by the surrounding brush. The paint might have been faded, and there was nothing extravagantly spectacular about it—I mean it was the entrance sign of a town of four thousand people; it couldn't have been that magnificent. But to me, it was _everything._ This sign was so wondrous to me that I had to pull over on the side of that road, while still making sure the sign was within my line of vision, and have a moment. Tears began to pour from my eyes, and they seemed so ridiculous to me that I began to laugh. I was in between sobbing and breaking into hysterics, and I was parked almost on the road—not that it mattered. There wasn't exactly a lot of traffic going in and out of Forks, Washington, because Forks, Washington was a town of no more than four thousand people; one of those people being my sister.

Wiping my eyes and hiccuping pitifully, I pulled myself together. I was still laughing in delight of that simple sign when I pulled forward. I looked down the road ahead, seeing a few stores and only one stop light. I sped a little more than I should have gone in such a little, everything-in-walking-distance town, but still—I couldn't really anticipate what happened next. As I passed through the yellow light, looking around the little town to figure out where I would go first, I glanced briefly to my right. That's when I noticed the van barrelling towards me, probably speeding through to anticipate the green light. I don't know whose fault it was, but I didn't really think it mattered at the time. All I know was that suddenly I could feel the car jolt sideways as the blue van made contact with the side of Alice's car, and my car spun toward a parked car on the left of the road. My breath was knocked out of me as the airbags deployed. Alice's car was sandwiched between the blue van, and an old, sturdy-looking brown truck into which Alice's car had been catapulted. After everything stopped moving and everything was finally still, I was finally able to think straight and reclaim my breathing pattern.

There was an eerie silence after the impact, and in this time I saw many things at once. The owners of the surrounding stores started to bolt out of their respective shops, all with phones at their ears most likely calling 911. The few people who had been walking by stopped and looked on in shock, realising slowly that there had been an accident. I looked over at the van through my passenger window and saw the driver of it leaning against a cracked driver's side window, bleeding from his forehead. He was unconscious, and he looked around my age. I severely hoped he wasn't badly or hurt or- I gulped- dead.

Quite quickly, the peaceful little town I had rolled into had turned into a chaotic tempest—the peace in the confines of my crushed car like the eye of the storm. A few of the people around us screamed and the others drew out their own phones, calling God-knows-who. I was pretty certain that they had called everyone in Forks, however, when a few minutes later it seemed like the entire town gathered around the sight of our accident. As a mass of people gathered around our cars, I could feel the heat rise in my face. This was just the sort of thing I hated: attention, and lots of it from the looks of it. Soon, sirens pierced the air around us as the lone fire truck, two ambulances, and four police cars arrived. The few policemen began to push back the surrounding audience, as the EMT's pulled out two stretchers and ran towards our respective cars. The firemen followed close behind, one of them holding the Jaws of Life. I hit my head against the steering wheel, a little embarrassed at the idiocy of it all. I wasn't hurt at all; the crash hadn't been major besides the other driver hitting his head—please. I had lived in Houston, the fourth biggest city in the country. I had seen a _real_ car accident.

As the firemen pulled around to my side, I waved them off. I opened the door slowly, to let them know I was fine. "Go! I'm fine!" I said as they continued to approach my car door. "Go get the other guy!"

One of the firemen nodded and yelled to the one with the Jaws of Life in his clutches. "Hey, Nick, go see if you can get Tyler out. She seems fine!" The other fireman, who I assumed was Nick, nodded and ran around my car to where the other driver, who I assumed was Tyler, was trapped. While they worked on getting him out of his car, the medics arrived on my side. One of them attempted to take my vitals, but I wouldn't have that.

"Look, I'm fine! See? Not a scratch on me!" I twirled around like an idiot, trying to show the EMT that I wasn't lying. Though, I actually had been lying. I had a few scratches, and I could already begin to feel the workings of a few bruises, but they were not half as worse as I had had before. They looked doubtful of my reassurance, so I sighed and compromised. "Ok, fine, let me get my stuff from my car. I'll go with you to the hospital so I can prove to you that I'm fine. But I'm not going to the ambulance on a stretcher, I'll walk thank you."

They looked shocked, and I was a little concerned at how many times they had actually dealt with emergencies before. Nonetheless, they nodded their heads in agreement so I didn't question their experience so long as it took the spotlight of me just that little bit. I retrieved my bags from the car, and through in my last drink as well. One of the EMT's took my things, except for the soda, which I opened and took a grateful chug of. I took one last look back at my sister's mutilated car, with the slightest feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach. Well there was one thing for sure to gather from all of this: If I did find Alice here, she would kill me.

As we stepped into the back of the ambulance, I scanned the watching crowd for the sign of my sister. I was half hoping that she wasn't there, not wanting her to see what I had done to her car. But, then again, my need to see her greatly surpassed my fear of punishment.

The ride to the hospital was both short and awkward. The paramedic who sat in the back with me looked antsy to do something, but he had been stuck with the girl who didn't have a major bleed—which, I have to say, is the first time I've been in an ambulance without a major break or bleed. Just as we pulled in, the trip having lasted an _unbearable_ five minutes at most, the paramedic decided he would say something. "So… what's your name? You new around here?"

I almost spit out my soda in his face from laughing. Instead I choked for a second before saying, "Yeah, I'm new here. And my name is Bella." It took a lot of will power not to slap him from the stupidity of that question. I mean—it was fairly obvious that I was new here. There was upwards of four thousand, most likely three thousand, people living here: Odds are, if he didn't recognise me, I wasn't from around here. I shook off my laughing as we entered the hospital emergency doors. They ushered me to an open area with multiple beds, and I sat on one of them patiently as the few people working there scurried around franticly preparing for the rival of any seriously injured victims.

After waiting for a few minutes without so much as glance my way, the boy who had hit my car, Tyler I presumed, was rolled in on a stretcher and transferred to the bed right next to mine. It looked like Tyler hadn't been unconscious for long, because now there seemed to be so much activity on the bed next to mine. There were a few EMT's and nurses already surrounding him, trying desperately to clean scrapes or take vital signs, but he pushed through them for some reason. As he glanced past the EMT and saw me watching, his eyes widened. Despite the nurses' protests, he attempted to get up from the bed. It wasn't until he spoke that I finally realised he was trying to get to me. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry! Oh my god, Oh my god… Please tell me you're not hurt? Please tell me you're ok?Just tell me you're all right. Are you angry with me? Please don't be angry, it was an accident. Please tell me you're not suing…"

I laughed a little and allowed the nurses to drag the boy back down to his bed before I responded. "Relax. I'm fine, I'm ok, and I'm not suing. This is not that bad, ok? It's all really just being blown out of proportion Trust me, it could have been much, much worse in—"

But just at that moment, I- and everyone else in the room for that matter- was cut off. Everything- all chaos and the craziness- seemed to stop abruptly when someone new entered the room. He was dressed in normal work clothes, which he quickly covered by grabbing a lab coat off a hook on the far side of the room. He grabbed two charts off a desk, which I guessed were mine and Tyler's seeing as it seemed that we were the only two patients in the area. These things didn't really capture my attention, however—not when the person doing these simple actions was _this _guy. When he turned around and I saw him directly for the first time, I had to blink a few times. Looking at the doctor gave you the strange sensation that you were staring directly at the sun; he just had that glow about him. He was very, very pale, which was not exactly a surprise considering he lived in the rainiest area of the country, and had wavy blonde hair. He almost looked too young to be a doctor—he couldn't have been more than thirty years old and even that was stretching it. Watching him move around the room was like watching some sort of dance because he was so graceful and poised when he walked. I was a little mystified by the sight of him, and he hadn't even spoken yet.

"Hello." He walked over to my bed, leaving Tyler to be cleaned up by the nurses. "My name is Dr. Carlisle Cullen, and what would yours be?"

He stuck out his hand in greeting, and I stretched mine out dumbly without speaking. When I shook his hand, I jolted a little. His hand was so cold that it shocked me out of my dazzled stupor. I shook my head a bit and remembered that he had asked me a question. "Bella." I finally supplied. "My name's Bella."

He smiled, his white teeth looking like they should have sparkled. "It's nice to meet you, Bella. Now…" He looked down at his chart. "Car accident, I see. Vitals look good… Do you remember hitting your head or going unconscious upon or after impact?" I shook my head to deny, and he wrote something down on the chart. He asked me a few more standard questions, all of which I denied. He took a flash light out of his pocket and flashed it in my eyes, checking to see how they dilated. He checked a few other things, disinfected and bandaged the scratches on my arms, and finally stepped back to take one more look at me. "Well, Bella, you seem fine to me. No real damage done, right?"

I laughed, and nodded. "Yes! Finally someone agrees with me. I tried to tell them that before I even got out of the car. I told them that I was fine, that I didn't need to go to a hospital, but did they listen to me? Nope."

He laughed as well, the sound smooth and velvety in his throat. "Ah, well you are something aren't you? Most girls your age would probably be crying or making a big deal about how you _nearly_ died!" He laughed again, reinforcing his sarcastic remark. "It's refreshing to see teenage girls with a level head on their shoulders. Very independent and strong… you remind me a lot of my daughter."

I laughed lightly, thinking about a little, defiant blond toddler he might have at home with an equally adorable wife. I imagined the handsome doctor probably did have a perfect little family in the works, most likely situated in an old, nice house somewhere around town. I rubbed the gauze on my arm absent-mindedly and asked him a simple question, "Oh yeah? What's your daughter's name?"

Dr. Cullen, who had been looking down at his clipboard with the same distracted attention, paused for a moment. Curiously enough, he glanced around the room for a moment as if seeing if someone was within hearing distance. He looked back at me, and said, much more tentatively now, "Her name is Alice."

I froze, my hand situated where it had been rubbing the bandage on my arm. I didn't quite believe what he had said, though I know I had heard him correctly. Even so, I had to hear him say it again. "Sorry, what was that?"

He looked back at me briefly before returning to his papers. "Alice."

I sat up straighter and stopped playing with the bandages on my arms, suddenly much more interested in this conversation. "Oh?" I asked, the innocent curiosity ebbing in my voice as it was replaced with the desperation of finding my sister again. "How old is your daughter?"

"Seventeen." He replied, almost too quickly. It should have dissuaded me immediately that the age was wrong: My Alice would have been nineteen by now. But- at the moment- it was so strange to me that someone so young would have a teenage daughter that I completely forgot about that. Seeing the confused appearance on my face, he continued, "My wife and I can't have children, so we have a few adopted children, all teenagers. Alice only joined us about two years ago, but I love her like I do all my kids."

I had no doubt in my mind from his expression that he loved Alice like a daughter, but this was all so strange that I didn't dwell much on that. Alice… Forks…two years ago… seventeen… it was all too uncanny to be a coincidence. I nodded my head, not really paying any more attention to the doctor in my concentration.

With one last nod, the doctor said goodbye to me. "Well, Bella, it was nice to meet you. Feel free to come back if you begin to feel any pain or any of those cuts gets infected. I think it's about time I attend to Mr. Tyler over here. The lady at the front desk will discharge you, but stick around the lobby because the police will want to ask you some questions, I'm sure."

That worried me for a moment: the police asking me questions. Would they figure out who I am? Would they make me go home? I couldn't go home after I came so close to finding her… but just then a plan formed in my mind. I took one glance back at Dr. Cullen in thought, watching him busy himself with treating Tyler. If my instincts were right at all, this would work. I walked out of the room into the lobby, checking out with the lady at the front desk. I sat in one of the uncomfortable chairs in the waiting room, not exactly sure how long it would take someone to start questioning me. I closed my eyes and leaned against the wall, dozing off a little.

When someone eventually shook me awake, I didn't exactly know where I was. When I remembered, I looked outside the windows and saw that the sky was significantly darker, though it was still day time. I must have napped for a few hours then. I finally looked up to see who had wakened me. The police officer was tall and friendly looking, with curly brown hair and warm brown eyes. He shuffled from foot to foot, as if he were in an awkward situation and didn't quite know what to do. Finally he reached his hand out and introduced himself. "Bella, I'm Police Chief Swan."

I shook his hand, noticing how much warmer it was compared to the last person I had shook hands with. "Nice to meet you, sir."

He nodded absent-mindedly and continued. "I apologise for keeping you here so long, but we actually got everything we needed from Tyler and the many witnesses we had. Wouldn't want to bother you too much, now would we? Your car will be in the shop here in Forks, and Tyler's insurance company will take care of all the charges. Is there somewhere you can stay here in town or maybe in Port Angeles until your car is all fixed up? I'd be happy to take you wherever you need to go."

I smiled, excited that this might work out well. He wouldn't be asking me questions or probing into why I was sixteen and on my own. He was offering me a ride, to top it all off. I projected that warm smile at him when I said, "Actually, I _could_ use a ride. You see, I'm here trying to surprise my sis—cousin with a visit. You might know her: Alice Cullen?"

The police chief furrowed his brown in thought and shook his head, "Nope, nope, I don't know an Alice Cullen, but I definitely know the Cullen family. Good family, that one—kids are very smart and never get into trouble; it's a shame that people expect the worst from a bunch of adopted teenagers. I wouldn't worry about it though, you're cousin is probably there—they probably adopted her more recently and I just haven't met her yet. I could bring you up to the Cullens' place, if you would like? "

I blinked in shock; nerves and excitement jolting my stomach uncomfortably but wonderfully at the same time. I was _so_ close to Alice I could practically feel it—I could feel the hole in my heart already start to mend itself within me. This was it—I was sure of it. I would find Alice.

"Yes, please." I finally replied. "A ride to the Cullens' house would be perfect, thanks."


	9. A Twisted Turn of Fate

**Hello everyone ^_^**

**So I tried not to make the wait too too long, but it's been over a week so i apologize. This one was actually edited by Alex, my editor! :o EEEE gasp! She actually found time to do it hahahahaha, so here is a freshly edited copy. I took those extra few days because she promised me to actually do this one. Just so you know! she already has the next chapter in the editing process, plus I've already written the one after that... so keep your eyes out, there's a lot of good stuff coming your way! Ah, we're at a turning point... hee hee hee *evil laughter* **

**Enjoy the chapter!**

**keep reading and review!**

**-TG**

* * *

Chapter 8- A Twisted Turn of Fate

Alice POV

As a psychic, the vast majority of my power rested in timing, because- as nifty as my visions were when I did get them -it was still hard for me to control them. I had been practicing with literally tireless determination for two years, but still I had yet to master the exact timing of my visions. This was because, while my visions were normally invaluable assistance for myself and my family, they didn't help me much when they decided to reveal themselves mere moments or minutes before the actual event occurred. I don't remember how this was as a human, seeing as my memory of my human life was severely lacking, so I couldn't exactly draw on past experiences for learning tools. Carlisle found my power completely fascinating, though he of course had experienced similar gifts in his life of over four-hundred years. Even so, there wasn't much help my family could give me in advancing my powers. Nonetheless, I tried to improve the frustratingly inconvenient nature of my visions' timing.

For the past seventeen hours I hadn't been able to sit still. I had paced around the entire house more than five thousand times—and that wasn't even exaggerating. I tried desperately to see what Bella was going to be doing, but there were so many scenarios that it was almost impossible to sort out the truth. The one relief I had was that at least her actions weren't on impulse anymore—at least now she knew what she wanted to do and where she wanted to go. If she had intentions, then she had a clearer future ahead of her. When she made decisions, I could see what those decisions would bring. But there were so many possibilities that one decision could bring. At one point, she decided to find the town and ask people about me. I was a little relieved that that was the choice she had decided on, because I knew she wouldn't be able to find me that way. Even if she asked people about me, no one in town knew about me. I was like the hidden Cullen child—the one that no one knew about. Emmett, Rosalie, and Edward went to the high school here, and Jasper even went into town sometimes with them. Upon seeing him, the townspeople probably thought he was a visiting cousin or something along those lines. There was some aspect of mystery to our entire family, seeing as people knew instinctively that we were not normal and stayed a good distance away as a result. But I was completely unknown to the humans.

My relief didn't last very long. Soon after, I realized she had decided to stop on the side of the road to compose her self and- if there was one thing I could take from my life as a psychic -it was that the slightest change in time could cause everything to change. As I could see in my vision, this particular decision had caused a very significant event. I watched as a boy in a blue van, trying to anticipate the green light that was almost always free of any traffic, barrel into my sister as her car crossed the intersection. I watched in horror as Bella's car, my car, was shoved across the road into a parked truck. The side of my car was mutilated, the door crushed, but I didn't care about that at all. Cars came and went—if my sister was hurt, I don't know what I would do.

"Jasper!" I yelled, seeking out my fiancée from wherever he was in the house. My voice was frantic from my panic. "Jasper!!"

He was by my side before his name had even slipped from my mouth the second time. All at once, he had his hands on my shoulders and his calming power sweeping over me. My panic ebbed, but only because it had been manipulated that way. This was one of those times, however, when I welcomed that power—it helped me think straight in this case. Jasper stared straight into my eyes, which were still glazed over while I looked farther into the future. "Alice, what is it? What's wrong?"

"It's Bella." I murmured, blinking as I came out of the vision. "She got in an accident at the intersection. I don't think she was hurt from what I could see, but I can't be sure." I looked once more into the future, and narrowed my eyes in confusion. "She's going to go to the hospital, but she doesn't have to be transported by stretcher… Carlisle will be there, I don't know how he got back to the hospital so soon. I don't know when all of them are going to return, but this means it can't be long now."

Just then, I heard the sound of footsteps approaching the house. There was more than one pair, and they travelled in quick procession up the lawn to the front porch. This concerned me. I hadn't heard the car pull in, so there was a possibility that this was not the vampires in my family. I summoned a vision of a few moments into the future, and was relieved when I saw it was only Edward and Esme approaching. But my concern was not gone, for I hadn't seen Carlisle enter with them. Could the accident already have happened? Could Carlisle already be with my sister? At that thought, my dead heart lurched within my chest. Just the prospect of my sister being so close was a little too much to bear. Carlisle was meeting my sister, and my sister was meeting Carlisle- yet neither of them would know that they had so much in common. This was not how I had imagined my sister and my new family coming together in my mind long ago, in those few moments I had allowed myself to dream about a perfect world in which I could have everyone I loved without anyone getting hurt. I knew that world did not exist, though. It was only a figment of my imagination. I suppose it was better this way: that Carlisle got to meet Bella and probably see just how wonderful she was, and vice versa. I could imagine much worse ways they could be acquainted, and I shuddered at the very idea.

The door to the house opened, and through it walked Esme and Edward, just as I had seen only moments ago. I had already been emotional, the sobering thoughts enough to tire me mentally. As the two members of my family walked through the door, it took me a moment to compose myself. For a split second, my mind was not composed as it normally was. It took a lot of mental prowess for me to maintain my cover. For that moment of time when I saw my family, I lost control. Many things ran through my mind at once: Would they be angry with me? Would this be the last time I would be part of this family? Should I wait until they were all together? Would Edward be furious? Would Esme be disappointed in me? I don't think I could handle my adoptive mother being disappointed in me- No, I _knew_ I wouldn't be able to bear it. I didn't think I could do this—

"Alice." Jasper came up behind me, placing his hands on my shoulders in support as his power washed over me once again. As soon as my mind was calm again, it switched back into composed mode. The transformation was so quick that it was as if there were an on and off switch to the composure of my mind. Almost subconsciously, I was reciting the _Déclaration des droits de l'Homme et du citoyen _in my mind. Edward gave me that curious look that was customary in this kind of situation. Whenever I was reciting something, especially in another language, Edward was immediately alerted that I was hiding something. When I was deliberately thinking of something else, something out of place, he knew I was avoiding thinking about something. This time, however, he had at least a vague idea of the panic that had been running through my mind. That one moment of turmoil and lack of control in my mind had been enough to give him a hint.

He seemed to be trying to process the whole thing in his mind as he asked, "Alice? Why am I being entertained with a recitation of the French Declaration of Independence?"

Avoiding the question, I added. "It's actually the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen… technically."

"Alice." He said again, though he had smiled his odd, crooked smile at my correction. Being a hundred years older than I and having studied world history time and time again, he knew all this information a hundred times more thoroughly than I did. I knew that as well as he did.

Before I said anything, however, I had to confirm one suspicion of mine. Taking a deep, yet unhelpful, breath I asked what I had been dreading. "Esme?" Her concerned eyes perked up at the mention of her name. "Where's Carlisle?"

She assumed a look of utter confusion, though that hint of worry was still there in here eyes. "He was paged to the hospital on the way home, so he took the car and we ran the rest of the way. He's fine though; there was just a car accident in town. I'm sure it was nothing serious. What's the matter? Did you see something wrong? Did something happen with him?"

I shook my head, my chest feeling tight and achy as I realized that the accident had already occurred. My sister could be hurt, without my knowledge. She had appeared fine, but what if there were internal injuries? What if there was something I hadn't seen in my vision? Anything was possible.

I realized I had let my mind wander back away from reciting useless passages, and an epiphany seemed to register in Edward's mind just then. He had heard me use that key phrase; _my sister._ I doubted, however, that he knew exactly what that meant. I looked away from him just then, avoiding his gaze as I thought the next response. _Edward,_ I began, making sure I had his attention. His eyes perked up until his gaze rested on my face. _There's something I need to tell you. All of you. Something I haven't yet told you. Something I've been keeping from you. But please, try not to listen in to the others. I'd like to tell you myself, if that's alright._

"Of course, Alice." He supplied, and Esme looked to him in question.

_Oh, and Edward?_ He nodded vaguely in response. _Please, try to understand my perspective on this. This was something I had to do myself, and I didn't want to have to bring any of you into this. You're my brother, and I trust you as such. The reason I kept this away from you has nothing to do with you. I was trying to protect my family… my _entire _family._

He looked confused, but he nodded slowly in response. "Esme… Edward…" I continued. "There's something I haven't told you. I didn't want you guys to have to deal with this along with all the other troubles I have caused you, but it's of critical importance now that I tell you. As much as I didn't want you guys to have to deal with this, this must be dealt with."

I took another deep, steady breath and waited to go on until I had the entire story well-planned out in my mind. When I finally began to run through details in my thoughts, I saw that Edward looked down and way- avoiding my eyes. I understood that he was respecting my wishes to tell him myself, and therefore tuning out of my thoughts at the moment. Esme didn't exactly realize what was going on, and the concerned look on her face almost brought down my nerve to say anything more. "Alice? Sweetie, you can tell us anything. We're your family, and we will get through whatever this is together."

I smiled at her, only too thankful for her constant support. "My family," I finally began the explanation. "My human family, that is, lives in Texas- you know that. According to them, I went missing two years ago and the case has been closed due to lack of substantial evidence to prove whether I'm dead or not. My parents have accepted that, as I have seen in my visions of them. As you know, I don't remember my parents very well. I don't know why I can't remember my life, I just can't. It's like those 17 years of my life just dissipated as soon as I became a vampire. All of you remember _something_ from your past, but me? _Nothing…_ Or so I have led you to believe up until now."

"There is one thing I do remember… vividly. Actually it's one person. I had a younger sister. Her name was Cynthia Isabella Brandon, but she hated her name and just went by Bella. She was three years younger than me, I believe. The only reason I can see my parents and other aspects of my old life in the future, is because my mind still can hold on to what ever is going on with Bella. The worst part is, I'm not even sure why I can remember her and not anything else. I know she was very important to me, but I don't know why she was more important to me than anyone else. Nonetheless, it was hard for me when I left Texas to leave my sister behind. I felt like I couldn't let go of the one connection I had to the human world. Bella was all I had left. Not only that, but Bella was painfully grieving over losing me. She couldn't function, even after months of separation. I couldn't leave her hurting like that. I _couldn't_ leave, knowing she would be hurting. So, I let her know I was alive. I left her a note, saying I loved her but we could no longer be together. She didn't find it, however, until less than a week ago. She ran away from home to try to find me. She's only sixteen, and she was out in the world on her own. She needed to get home, so she wouldn't get into any trouble. I tried to contact her once more, so I had Emmett deliver a letter to her where she was staying in California. He read the note, though, and wrote where we live on it. She knew, instinctually I suppose, that she could find me now. She arrived in Forks only moments before you did, where her car was hit by a van. She was taken to the hospital, where she is right now meeting Carlisle."

"Wow." Esme muttered her eyes wide in shock. "Alice, you could have told us about your sister. But of course we can't judge you for trying to protect her. It's admirable of you, and unfortunate how the situation turned out but it's not at all your fault, dear. I'll call Carlisle. He needs to come home as soon as possible. Would you like me to leave his explanation to you?"

Her understanding made me so relieved I felt like I could cry. I nodded my head and smiled, "Yes, please."

"Alright then." She rubbed my shoulder briefly before she left the room to use her phone. I sensed that she had also given me this moment to speak to my brother in every way that matters.

"Edward?" I asked timidly, purposefully not anticipating what his reaction would be to allow him to tell me himself.

"Well, in that case, I know one thing for sure…" He trailed off, averting making direct eye contact with me. I looked on anxiously, wishing his response would come faster. "You have become a pro at hiding your thoughts from me. I barely had an idea as to what has been going on with you. So… Have you any idea what you're going to do about it?"

I put my hands on the sides of my face and stared off at nothing in particular. I had been so stressed out about what my family would think, I hadn't even decided what I was going to do about my situation. "I have no clue… can you think of any solution?"

He thought for a moment, but shook his head. "I don't think I know enough about the situation or your sister to create a viable solution. Perhaps Carlisle will think of something." He saw my wary and frantic expression on my face and reworded his response. "No, not perhaps. I'm _sure_ Carlisle will know some way to fix this. He always does."

I nodded and mumbled an unintelligible agreement to his statement. I sincerely hoped Carlisle would know something to do. I couldn't think of any possibility that wouldn't hurt Bella. In a perfect world, she could live with us and she and I could both be happy. In reality, if she were to be around us, I wouldn't be able to handle the human contact. She would constantly be in danger; I would never be able to even show human emotions any more, with the frenzy for human blood constantly present. There was no way she could survive this lifestyle as a human… and I wouldn't even consider the alternate way she could live with us. I shuddered at the very prospect, refusing to even speak the possibility- no, the _im_possibility- in my mind. But if she wasn't with me, I couldn't just make her go away forcefully. I _couldn't_ hurt her anymore than I had already done. I was unable to bring myself to inflict pain on her if there was any other way around it. But if she couldn't stay with us and I couldn't make her go away, then the only option left was to let her find her way back without interference. But that was a long shot, at best. Bella was insufferably stubborn, and I knew she was resilient as well. If she was determined to find me, she would convince herself to run to the ends of the earth if that's what it took. If I let her leave here knowing she would be out in the world on her own, there would be practically no way for me to keep her safe. Why was it that I so often found myself in unsolvable situations?

"Because you're a good person, and you don't like to see people get hurt. It's because you underestimate your abilities, yet you can't bring yourself to walk away from someone in need of help. From what I gather from your thoughts, it seems your sister and you have that trait in common. Selflessness and determination must be genetic traits in your family." I smiled up at Edward in gratitude. A little bit of a pep-talk was what I needed, no matter how unmerited his compliments toward me were.

He scoffed at my denial of the kind words, but I thanked him regardless. "Thank you, Edward. You can't understand just how much of a relief your support is in this hard time for me. After Rosalie overreacted like she did, and Emmett made such a big deal out of it, I was sure I would get only similar reactions from the three of you. I don't know what I would do without you or Esme right now."

"Of course, sis. It's to be expected that Rosalie overreacted. It's just her nature. And you know how Emmett is. It's not exactly like he can hold a grudge against you, he loves you as his sister, as do I. Rosalie… she'll come around. Any mistake someone makes is a personal offense against her, not that I think you made a mistake. I think it was incredibly noble what you did—trying to protect us and your human sister at the same time. Esme thinks the same way, and she loves you as her daughter. I'm sure Carlisle's feelings will not be unlike Esme's in this case." Just as he finished speaking, one of the aforementioned family members walked through the door, the land line clutched in one hand.

"I just got off the phone with Carlisle." Esme's voice did not seem frantic, like my nature was. She remained as composed and calm as she always was. "That Tyler boy who was in the other car got a pretty bad head injury in the accident, but he should be fine. However, Carlisle wants to keep an eye on him for a while. I didn't tell him why he needed to be home quickly, because I didn't want him to worry about you, Dear. I just told him to come home as soon as possible, and he promises to be home within the next few hours.

"Thank you, Esme." I said softly, and prepared myself to wait for the next few hours without driving myself insane.

After putting myself into a trance like state while sitting against the living-room wall, I had discovered that there would be no significant change before Carlisle got home that I could see. Bella would fall asleep in the lobby; therefore she had yet to make a decision about what she would do next. I, as if taking the hint from my sister, went into the most sleep-like state that a vampire could assume. I focused on the future, mostly on trivial things that would keep my mind off the current situation: lottery numbers, changes in the stock market, and results in sporting events… things that seemed so useless to me, when the vast majority of people would die to gain the rather profitable information. But, after a while, I had passed the time flawlessly, and- in just a short amount of time- the man I considered my father walked through the door to our home.

Before he had both feet inside the house, I was in front of him. I looked up at him seriously, thinking to myself how he had been with my sister only moments ago. He looked concerned for me, just as all the others had been at first. "Alice?" He questioned me.

"Carlisle, there was a girl who you helped in the accident. She was in the other car…." He seemed to register who I was talking about at once, and- unable to resist the temptation- I asked the question burning in my mind. "What was she like?"

Carlisle half-smiled at nothing in particular, and said without hesitation. "She seemed like a very nice girl. Quite stubborn, but in a good way- a lot like you, Alice." I closed my eyes and smiled ruefully. The look of concern came back to Carlisle's face. "Why? What's wrong? Is that girl ok?"

"That girl," I began as Esme and Edward joined us in the room. "Is my sister."

"What? How could—" And with that, I interrupted him. I let the entire story come out in one quick slur, so fast a human would not have been able to comprehend individual words. He listened quietly and patiently through the entire story, which I had already told twice today. When it came time for him to speak, he looked thoughtful. "Well, then, we have quite a puzzle to solve don't we. I'm afraid, however, I might have unknowingly made matters worse."

"Why?" I asked quickly, dreading the answer. "What happened?"

"Well, I was giving her the basic check-up and I told her she reminded me of my daughter." He chuckled to himself then, though I wasn't exactly amused as much as I was horrified at what else could have been said. "Now, I guess I realize why she reminded me so much of you. But, like I was saying, we got to talking about you. And she did seem oddly more interested when she asked your name, so I think she somehow made a connection with what I had said."

I shook my head, and Jasper calmed me quickly. I breathed out once, not wanting to make Carlisle feel bad for what he had unknowingly done. "That's alright, Carlisle. I'm sure she was just curious. She probably didn't think anything of it." Even to myself, I didn't sound convincing. "Right now, I just need time to think. I need to figure out all of this stuff out on my own. I'll be in Jasper's and my room if you guys need me." Without looking back at the boys in my family, I started up the stairs. I felt bad for leaving Jasper there and wanting to be alone, but I had to be able to think without anyone else's influence. When I reached the top of the stairs, I place my hand on the banister and looked back at the boys where they still stood in the entry way. I realized how beautiful this thing I had was at that moment. I really hoped I wouldn't have to give up this amazing family and life we had made for ourselves. If I had to, though, I would for Bella's sake. As much as it hurt me to have to make that decision in my mind, it was something I knew deep in my heart. I wouldn't hurt Bella. And, even if I did have to leave my family, it didn't mean it would be the last time I would see them. Even if it took years or even decades to get everything straightened out, I was fairly sure that my family would accept me back into their lives whenever I had the opportunity to. Though, now that I thought about it, this family kept Jasper and I motivated to work at our alternative lifestyle. I was afraid that, if we did have to leave, we would falter. I couldn't return to that bleak point in my life now that I had to live with the guilt from those previous experiences.

When I looked back down from where I was standing at the balcony, the boys had already dispersed to different parts of the house. I headed towards the room that I shared with Jasper, walking at a very slow pace as I thought everything through in more detail. Just as I was about to sink down onto the bed, the vision hit me. It was so sudden and unexpected amongst my other thoughts that I gasped in surprise. When the vision actually came to me, my terror overwhelmed my surprise so entirely that I didn't even think of anything else. I couldn't believe this. I was so shocked that I felt paralyzed where I was sitting on the bed. I couldn't comprehend moving or thinking of someway to avoid this. I sat there dumbly, not even comprehending the situation until I heard the sound of tires pulling off of the road into our driveway. I heard the door open, and someone get out while muttering a quick "thanks" to whoever was with them. The other person responded, but that was of no concern to me. The small, female voice is what worried me. As I heard the car pull away and exit back onto the road, I prayed silently that the next inevitable sound wouldn't follow. But it did. Of course it did. Fate was no longer on my side.

I heard the footsteps make their way up towards the door hesitantly, as if the person was willing themselves to walk. As I realized how serious the situation was, I finally jumped off the bed. I bolted back to the balcony, where I could see the rest of my family congregated in the entry way already. When I entered, they all looked up at me expectantly. They all had an idea of who our unexpected visitor was, but none of them knew how she had found the house. I had seen her make the connection between Carlisle and me. I had seen the police chief offer her the ride.

_Thinking of it, the entire vision replayed in my head like a horror scene. My eyes widened in terror as I heard the doorbell ring, echoing ominously through the entire house mere seconds after I had heard the torturous sound play in my head alone. Just then, my mind switched into panic. I had to get out of the house before she came... this couldn't be happening. I wouldn't _let _it happen. I watched Carlisle slowly make his way towards the door, and I bolted down the stairs. I took Jasper's hand, but for the moment he resisted in his confusion. I glared at him menacingly until he understood how urgent this was. I ran with him at my full speed. I was taking him toward the back the back of the house. We passed Rosalie, Emmett, Esme, and Edward on the way out, whom all gave us very confused looks. I glanced at them nervously, but I knew they'd be okay. It was Jasper and me that I was worried about. I had made mistakes, and I would never forgive myself for what I had done in that vulnerable part of my life. But here- with my new family- I finally felt like I wasn't a monster, and I knew that I wouldn't be able to live here with these vampires who could practically enter into saint-hood, if I should even __think__ about a human again. But this particular human just had to waltz back into my life, as if she was some test to see if the last two years of practically isolating my self from humans had been enough to withstand __this.__ Because if I couldn't withstand this, I knew I would never be able to live with myself. I thought about the possibilities as I raced with Jasper towards the back door._

_Just in case, I sent Edward a message in my head:_

_Edward! It's a human, be careful! It's my sis-_

_But my thought was cut off as Carlisle opened the door, and muttered her name in surprise. "Bella?!"_

_Her name, finally spoken aloud by someone else, stopped me in my tracks. I wanted so badly to see her face again. I turned, looking through the open door until I could see her. For a single moment, she caught my eye and hers widened in shock. I took a few steps, trying so desperately to avoid what was about to happen. But it was inevitable: Just like I'd seen in my vision, Bella stumbled forward towards me as if she couldn't help herself either, tripping on the front step of the door. Her hand fell out in front of her, catching the corner of the open door, slicing the side of her hand open._

_The wind blew in from outside, and suddenly I couldn't tell anyone my name if they asked, or the name of the girl in front of me. All I knew was that I __wanted_ _her. She wasn't a human at all, she was just another meal. I sprung forward, my instincts releasing themselves from their hold. I was so close; she was right there in front of me. Then I ran into what seemed like a boulder or a miniature mountain. Before I knew what was happening, Emmett had Jasper, who I realized had followed me using the same instincts, and me in a death grip, lugging us towards the back door. Rosalie kept her steely grasp against my shoulders until it hurt, and Esme followed as back up- her hand covering her mouth and nose. No one breathed, as Jasper and I were escorted outside into the fresh air. No one crowded around my sister to see if her hand was ok, because they knew, if they were to let us go, she'd be much worse off than she was now._

_And no one thought to protect her from Edward._

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**Sorry for the cliffy. Ha ha ha ^_^ I have the next chapter with editor, so it shouldn't be long now. I'll try to have it up this weekend. :)**

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**-TG**


	10. Through the Rabbit Hole

**Here's the next chapter guys ^_^**

**I had originally anticipated posting this this past weekend, but it got reaaaally busy and I forgot about it. Hahaha, sorry! But, I remembered last night, so I decided to post it this morning (before school, it's 5:45 a.m. here -_- I must love you guys a lot) **

**Now, this chapter might be a little bit confusing, but trust me--there's a method to the madness. Just follow along, and all the questions will be answered if you combine last chapter's, this chapter's, and next chapter's persectives. (By the way, I have the next chapter done already, and I'll give it to my editor today so she can have that ready for you.) **

**Enjoy!**

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**Keep reading!**

**-TG**

* * *

Chapter 9- Through the Rabbit Hole

Bella POV

At first, I had no idea what was going on. I was so terribly clumsy, as I had been frequently told by others in the past… as I had been told by Alice in the past. All that I could comprehend at the time was Alice. There she was. She was right there, across the room from me, looking back at me. I couldn't even believe it. I knew I wasn't dreaming. She was actually there, in the flesh. When I saw her, it was like my mind had established blinders over my eyes, shielding them from the rest of the world that didn't involve Alice. Because Alice was right in front of me. I didn't even have time to absorb what I was seeing really, I just stumbled forward towards her. But that's the thing about having blinders on: more often than not, you overlook important things—like steps and doors.

Suddenly, I couldn't see Alice anymore. It wasn't because she was gone, but because my eyes had closed as I catapulted towards the floor. My arms subconsciously stretched in front of me to try and catch myself, saving my face from the impact. But my hand had stretched out too far, catching the sharp corner of the wooden door. I could feel the jagged wooden edge as it sliced the side of my hand deep enough so that I could feel the blood begin to drip down my palm. I could smell the blood, like rust and salt, permeate the air around me. All this time, however, I wasn't thinking about falling, because I did that far too often for it to be a novelty. I didn't think about the pain of the cut on my hand, or the fact that it was probably filled with splinters. I didn't think about the blood that spilled from the wound, because it was just a little blood and no big deal, so I tried to tell myself. All I could think about was that I couldn't see Alice anymore, because my face was still turned toward the floor.

As I scrambled to compose myself, already preparing myself to apologize for my clumsiness, I began to hear rather disconcerting sounds. I froze, whether in shock or fear I couldn't say, as I heard a deep feral sound emit from something in front of me. I heard a boisterous crash so quickly after, that I didn't know what could have fallen in such a short amount of time or what else could have made such an ear-splitting sound. For the moment, I was almost afraid to look up. I couldn't imagine what could have happened in the few seconds I had been on the ground. I was perched on all fours, a little concerned that the blood on my hand was tarnishing the nice white tile. But as I looked up, my concern over the trivial things disappeared. I wasn't quite sure what I was looking at. The big one, I didn't know any of their names besides Alice and Dr. Cullen, was pushing someone back. I could see the thinner man over his right shoulder; his face warped and enraged. I didn't know what was going on, and the sight was terrifying—but I couldn't bring myself to look away. The man was not the only person that the big one was forcing backwards. There was another form, which I couldn't see from behind the big guy. And, though I couldn't see the other, I had a vague suspicion I knew exactly who it was. The big man pushed the other two forms farther and farther back until they were almost out of my line of sight. Two other women followed behind, inhibiting my vision even more. Just as they were about to disappear into the next room, I caught a glimpse of my sister. Her face was warped as well, in that feral mask that I had seen in the other man's face as well. But that wasn't the only time I had seen this face. This was the face of Alice I had seen in my dreams on multiple occasions—the Alice of my nightmares.

As she looked over the big man's shoulder towards me, her face morphed into one of pure horror. As she focused her gaze around the room, her golden eyes now looked as terrified as I felt in the pits of my heart. Suddenly she screamed, and the sound was so deafening that it shook the air around me. "EDWARD STOP!"

I looked around, trying to see what she was talking about, but suddenly I was shoved backwards towards the wall. I slid over the tile until I hit the wall with a thud, my side already feeling beaten and bruised. I looked over to see what happened, only to see the broad shoulders and golden hair of the man I knew to be Dr. Carlisle Cullen. He was shoving someone as well. He appeared to be wrestling someone who was trying desperately to get around him. But the two were moving so quickly, they shook. This… this wasn't possible. No one could move that quickly. I saw a flash of bronze, which I realized was someone's hair. The person who I had seen was fighting to get around Dr. Cullen, his face frozen in a frenzied mask similar the others'. I was so shocked, I couldn't even register how deeply afraid I should be. Because, though I didn't realize it at that moment, there was a common element to each of these people's ballistic frenzies: the man before, the bronze-haired man now, and even Alice all appeared to be trying to get somewhere, to someone… to me.

As I backed up until my back was against the wall, I had the sudden urge to look down at the trickle of blood I had left in my path. I looked down at my hand, the blood finally beginning to ease its flow. I could still smell the rust and salt smell lingering from the wound, and it made my head spin at the sensation. I looked back up to where the struggle was occurring before me, and suddenly my mind seemed to clear and the shock ebbed from me. As I watched the blond and bronze-haired men struggle to push each other in opposite directions, my mind didn't seem able to comprehend what was happening. The force with which they were shoving at each other was too strong. The speed at which they attempted to get around each other was too fast. The appearance of the bronze-haired one's face wasn't human. Nothing that was happening in front of me was possible… or, at least, not humanly possible.

I had the sudden urge that when I had stepped through the door to the Cullen's beautiful home, I had stepped into the entrance to a new and foreign world. I was Alice. Not my Alice, but the Alice that was falling through the hole in the earth to find herself in a completely different dimension—into Wonderland. I was Alice, and I had found the rabbit's hole. I was falling, deeper and deeper into the earth until I couldn't see the world above anymore. I even had the sensation that I was falling, as I watched the two in front of me.

Dr. Cullen yelled, and his words became muffled in my mind. "Edward! Edward, stop this! What's wrong with you? Control yourself! What's going on that you can't shee hoaw yur acshting… zzz mmm..." The doctor's voice seemed to get farther and farther away as I fell away from that world into another.

I was Alice, falling down the rabbit hole. As I fell, the darkness surrounded me until it was suffocating. The other world disappeared from sight until it became unreachable.

I was Alice, descending into Wonderland; a place unlike anything I had ever experienced. But, if the first few moments here were any indication, I could already tell that this "Wonderland" was a much darker and more unimaginable place than I had ever anticipated.

* * *

When I first realized I had regained consciousness, I couldn't bring myself to open my eyes at first. Though I took the few moments to figure out where I was, I still was too afraid to open my eyes and confirm my suspicions. I was no longer laying on the floor, pressed against the wall. My hand no longer felt exposed and stinging with pain. I closed my hand slowly, feeling the tight bandage that was wrapped around it. My fingers felt tingly as if they had been numbed. The doctor must have fixed my hand while I had been unconscious, and I thought distantly about how long I had been asleep. Through this minute of useless pondering, I still couldn't bring myself to open my eyes. Everything that had occurred before had been terrifying and confusing, yes, but that's not what worried me must. My deepest fear, that felt like it was consuming me from the inside, was that when I opened my eyes, this would all prove to have been a dream. My worst fear was that, after coming close to being with my sister, Alice would be gone.

Still not willing to open my eyes, I listened around me. After a few minutes of focusing, I began to hear the distant sounds of people talking. After a few more moments of straining to hear, I realized that the people weren't only talking—they were arguing. As their voices got louder and my alertness slowly came back to me, I was able to distinguish a few words being said.

"I still don't see why she can't just stay here!" A deep, booming voice yelled out, which made me think that this was the big man I had seen before. For a moment, my heart clenched in anticipation. Somebody thought I should stay here? Did the others think that too? I had a brief moment where my hopes were raised, until I could vaguely sense the sound of a few scoffs in reaction.

"_Emmett,_" A velvety male voice, not unlike Dr. Carlisle's but somehow sounding younger in a way. The tone with which he spoke was harsh and criticizing, which made me doubt how much influence the deeper voice had had over the others. "Shut up. I think you have already done enough here."

"Me?!" The deeper voice yelled in outrage. "Me?! Please, I believe I was the one who remained lucid when all of the rest of you went into frenzy back there. Seriously, Edward, what's your deal? Since when do you flip out at the smell of human blood? I thought you were supposed to be the high-and-mighty, almost-to-Carlisle-status one out of all of us? You're usually the one holding us back, not the one trying to sneak a bite."

"I don't know, alright?!" The softer voice yelled back. "I don't know what came over me! Her blood was just… _different._ I think she may be my, you know—"

"Stop it!" A high-pitched female voice interrupted the argument ensuing between the two men, and the sound of that particular smooth voice made my breath hitch in my throat. "Just stop it! This isn't just any human we're talking about here! This is my _sister._ Don't talk about her like that! Don't talk about her like she's just some random bucket of blood that you smell walking down the street! Ugh, you boys are insufferable! And, no, Emmett she can't stay here. Do you realize how hard this is for me as it is _without_ having my own sister here? God, how can you be so dense?"

"Aw, come on sis! Don't be like that—" The deep, booming voice pleaded.

"Shut up, Emmett!" This time, the rebuttal was supplied by multiple voices. Multiple people had silenced the loud one all at once, making me think that this kind of thing was common among the odd group of people.

Having heard my sister's voice in the other room, my fears were allayed. I sat up suddenly, opening my eyes to face what was going on. I looked around the bright room quickly, realizing I was in the large, white living room that I had seen from the entry way. Feeling odd as I moved, I looked down to see that I was in different clothes than I had been wearing before. I supposed that my clothes must have been dotted with my blood, but it concerned me that someone else had changed me. The clothes were nice, though, and they fit me. I was in a comfortable pair of jeans and a tight, navy button-down shirt. Like I had expected, my hand was wrapped in a clean white piece of gauze without even a dot of blood marring its perfect surface. Realizing I had stopped focusing on what was going on in the other room, I tuned back only to be disappointed. The tone of the voices was subdued to a dull murmur every now and then. Could they have heard me wake up? There was no way, I thought. Then again, so far nothing that had happened within the walls of the Cullen home seemed possible.

Suddenly, a voice raised in tone, "Well, it's not like Jasper or I can do it! Carlisle, why don't you…" The distinct voice of my sister had chimed in, but had quickly dulled as her voice dropped in pitch. I could sense a few more responses, though I couldn't understand what was being said.

"No!" Alice yelled once again. "There's no way! I'm sorry, Edward, but I can't let you do that! This is my sister, and obviously you have some sort of weakness when it comes to her specifically, so I can't let you…" There was another hushed response, though I could hear that it was one of the boys.

"Edward, please don't make me do this! I can't let you, or anyone else for that matter, who is so likely to hurt her go anywhere near my sister!" There was another response, this time sounding a little angry in the tone of the unintelligible words. "Of course I trust you; you're my brother."

The response this time was calmer, the tone even and controlled. I couldn't hear what Alice said in return. After that, the tones were so quiet that I couldn't distinguish between them.

I looked around the room, finally, taking in the beautiful place. There were many windows, letting in the little light that got through the thick, gray clouds that shaded the sky. The living room was entirely white, and the entry way was bright and open as well, with hints of wood paneling on the curving staircase and the walls. For some reason, I felt uncomfortable sitting on the Cullens' couch in the Cullens' living room. Something was too personal about it, for someone who wasn't even in the presence of one of the Cullens themselves. I stood up, walking back toward the entry way where I had been before when the… when whatever had happened before had actually happened. This felt better, being in the entry way. Guests who were waiting for someone waited in the entry way. But when I made it to the center of the huge room, I felt the head rush hit me. My head still felt light, and my legs felt wobbly beneath me. I made me way to the wall until I found myself against a raised platform which held a magnificent grand piano on top of it. Though I felt I might be intruding on something important to someone else, I found myself continuing towards the piano. Not only did I need a place to sit for the moment, but I found myself oddly drawn to the beautiful instrument. We had had a piano at our house, but there was something cold and unwelcoming about it. I couldn't remember the last time the mini-grand had been played, but when I was little, I could vaguely remember my mother playing simple pieces on the old upright we had had before my parents came into money. I couldn't remember happiness or music in that house, since it hadn't been present there in years.

As I took a seat on the bench, it squeaked in protest beneath me. Hesitantly, I reached out to the pristine white keys and began to slowly play the beginning of _Fur Elise—_something I subconsciously knew from when my mother had tried to teach me a very simple arrangement of the popular song. My mother hadn't been that great of a musician, and she was even worse at teaching music to others, but she was good enough to play us Christmas carols in the winter long ago. Me, on the other hand… I hadn't really inherited any particular gift or talent for anything in particular, not taking a knack to any particular sport or instrument. I had slightly above average smarts in English and literature, slightly below average grades in Math and Science. I looked like any other girl you could see on the street, no attribute of my appearance particularly interesting. I was average in every way, really.

"Do you play?" As a voice broke me out of my silent reverie, I jolted up from the piano, feeling as if I had been caught doing something I wasn't supposed to.

"I'm sorry, I just—" I stammered out, only to be interrupted.

"No, no, that's fine. Please, sit down." I looked up in shock at the boy, who I now realized could not have been much older than me. He looked maybe seventeen or eighteen, but not much older than that. I finally got a good look at his face, now that he was so close and still as he stood in front of me. He had bronze colored air that stood up in various directions seemingly without the use of gel. His face was very, very pale, much like Dr. Carlisle's was, and it had that same luminescent quality to it that I couldn't exactly explain. His eyes were bright amber gold, and I felt like I could keep looking into them and never see the farthest depths they contained. He was tall and muscular, but not drastically so. Quite frankly, he was, well… beautiful. And it pained me to use that term in reference to any boy, but there was no other way to put it. He had a look that most Abercrombie models, and Greek Gods for that matter, would envy.

"Do you mind if I join you?" He asked quietly, and I finally noticed how smooth and velvety his voice sounded. It was a little _entrancing_, the way his words came out sounding almost rhythmic like a song.

"Not at all." I muttered, sliding over to make room for him on the end of the bench. He sat down beside me, and I noticed briefly that both of his hands were clenched into fists against his legs. The muscles in his forearms were pulled taut beneath the pale skin of his arm from the strain. It was like he was dealing with some inner conflict that he was very good at shielding from showing in his face. Very briefly, an image of that same shock of bronze hair fighting to get around Dr. Cullen as the two men fought appeared in my mind. This was that same boy, I realized. I hadn't been dreaming; I was sure of that. My mind told me, for some reason, that I should be afraid. As I sat quietly next to the boy, my mind told me he was dangerous. But my heart didn't want to listen. My heart knew that these people had a connection to my sister. My heart also knew that if I was afraid of this boy, I was bound to be afraid of everything else that had been going on around me since I had stepped through those doors. Therefore, I refuse to let myself be afraid.

The silence between us had stretched into a few seconds, and I looked up into his eyes to get another glimpse of the gold I had only seen before in my dreams and in the eyes of Dr. Cullen. He stared back at me, an amused crooked smile gracing his lips. I had heard a name used with him before, but I wanted to say something to break the silence. In some ways, I didn't want to break the silence though. There was something comfortable about the silence that stretched between us, like we didn't have to really say anything to entertain each other. God knows, I could have watched his face for hours without getting bored. Nonetheless, I spoke, "What's your name?"

His smile grew, and he slipped his hands where mine had been previously on the keys. "Edward Cullen." He replied, starting to play something light and sweet without even looking at the keys.

I watched his hands move over the keys, a little in awe. The piece was light-hearted but difficult and quick, as I could see while watching his hands. I began to speak again, "I'm—"

"Bella." He answered for me, never breaking the rhythm of the song. "So I've heard."

I nodded, not really paying attention as I was mesmerized by the song. When the quick rhythm came to a close, he stretched it out into a complicated bridge before he settled into a slower, softer song. A flicker of recognition sparked in my mind, and I looked at him slowly. "Clair de Lune?" I questioned.

A look of genuine surprise passed over his features, before his amused smirk replaced it. "You know Debussy?" He asked, that surprise and amusement present in his voice.

"Not well." I admitted. "My mother used to play classical music around the house all the time. This was one of my favorites."

He smiled, his eyes lighting up with some hidden emotion. "It's one of my favorites as well." I watched his hands intensely as they crossed over each other and stretched past where I sat. I could feel his gaze burning into the side of my face as the silence replaced the conversation once again. It felt like he was focusing on me nearly as acutely as I was focused on him as he played. I didn't look up to his face to meet his gaze, though something in me felt that I should. I thought back to the previous incident, thinking about how different this boy was then compared to him now. I didn't know what was going on with Alice and the Cullens—not in the least. But I felt the desperate need to stick around and find out. That was it then: I didn't care who Alice was now or what I had to do to adapt to the different person she was, but I wouldn't lose her again.

"What are you thinking about, Bella?" Edward asked, and I finally looked up to meet his gaze in surprise. He was still looking at me as he played, his amused smirk reaching his topaz-colored eyes. With that amused, but some how intense look he was giving me, suddenly his question slipped from my mind. His eyes bore into mine, and suddenly I felt light-headed again, but this was different. I wasn't dizzy or a fainting risk like before. Now, I just felt _light_, like a weight was suddenly lifted from me after a long time of being burdened by something. Looking at him felt like one of the first wholly right things I had done in months, maybe years, and it made me not want to look away. Without realizing it, the playing had stopped and he was just looking at me. His smile grew, and he spoke again, breaking the daze I had slipped into, "Bella?"

"W-what?" I asked, blinking my eyes against my dazed stupor. I shook my head and look down, a blush rising to my cheeks. I glanced over briefly to see his hands clench again and his body tense.

"Your thoughts," He answered, the light tone to his voice hushed slightly as he sighed the words. He sounded tense again, suddenly. "I can't figure out what you're thinking about. I can usually read people easily. You can say I have a certain gift for it. But you… I get nothing."

As another blush crept up my neck and cheeks, I was sincerely glad that he couldn't figure out what I was thinking. If he could hear me fixating on how he looked like some tribute to the Greek God, Adonis, or how looking into his eyes made me feel right… I shuddered a bit inside. I sounded like some love struck teenager obsessing over her celebrity crush. It was so unlike me that I could hardly recognize myself. I shook my head, laughing lightly. "I'm sorry, but it brings me a great deal of relief that you can't know what I'm thinking."

He chuckled softly as well, resuming the song he had stopped on in the exact place he left off. "Oh, Bella." He breathed, and I couldn't help but think that my name hadn't sounded so great until he spoke it. I felt like kicking myself at how ridiculous I sounded in my head, but it made me glad once again that he couldn't figure out what I was thinking. "If you're trying to abate my curiosity, you are doing a miserable job at it."

I laughed lightly, resting my elbow on the top of the piano with my head in my hand. He looked back at me, that odd but intriguing crooked smile shining back at me as he played. I closed my eyes and listened to the music for a few minutes, until it stopped quite suddenly. I opened my eyes, about to question his sudden halt, but his gaze was focused past me to behind the piano. I turned around, following his gaze. Behind us were four people; I recognized Dr. Cullen immediately. Next to him was a beautiful caramel-haired woman, who must have been his wife from the way they were standing so close to each other. Beside his wife was a daunting figure. He was intimidating to say the least, being far past six feet tall and very, _very_ muscular. But something about his expression made me doubt he was such an intimidating person after all. He eyed Edward and me as we sat on the piano bench together with a suggestive look, one eyebrow raised in question. A blush rose to my face for no particular reason besides that one look. He laughed aloud to himself, receiving odd looks back at him from the others. The girl beside him was intimidating for a very different reason, mostly because she was probably the most beautiful woman I had seen in my life. The blonde that stood beside the big guy was somewhere in between a Victoria Secret model and one of Heaven's angels. She seemed to have a permanent scowl etched on her face, which somehow didn't diminish how beautiful she actually was.

They all seemed to be looking at me expectantly, but I didn't know what to say. All of them looked back at me with those amber eyes, and I was lost for words. Luckily, Dr. Cullen spoke instead. "Bella, we have been talking, and we need to discuss some things with you. First, I'd like to introduce you to some of my family. This is my wife, Esme, my son, Emmett, and my daughter, Rosalie. And as you already know, this is my son, Edward. Everyone this is Bella."

They each murmured a quick greeting, except for Edward, and I nodded as I committed each of their names to memory. "It's nice to meet all of you." I replied.

"Bella, if you'd like to come with us, we can talk in the other room and answer any… questions you might have." Dr. Cullen looked wary; as if afraid what kind of "questions" I might ask. To be honest, I did have a lot of questions: What happened earlier? Where's Alice? Who- or _what,_ for that matter- are these guys? But, to be honest, I didn't care what the answers to any of those questions were. I was curious, yes. But none of those answers would really change my mind. It didn't matter to me what they were. Nonetheless, I stood up from the bench to follow them.

As I stood, I felt a hand brace my elbow and guide me over to the step down. I followed the arm until I looked up into Edward's face, questioning his assistance. He chuckled, but the amusement didn't reach his eyes this time. "Pardon my assumption, but I get the idea that you have a tendency for falling."

I laughed at his remark, though it was a nervous prattle when it escaped my lips. I confirmed his statement, "You have no idea."

He smiled a tight smile, and said, "Well, then. We wouldn't want to have another accident, would we?"

As I watched him, he looked over at Dr. Cullen, his father and slowly, almost insignificantly, nodded. I narrowed my eyes, confused at the odd exchange. It seemed like he had been answering some unspoken question—something I had missed. I looked from Edward to Dr. Cullen, trying to sense some silent language that was being spoken between them. However hard I observed, there was nothing I could draw from their expressions besides their silent understanding.

I followed the Cullens into a dining room, with a large table that would easily fit us all and then some. Edward, with his hand still resting behind my arm, pulled a chair at the very end for me. I accepted it with a muttered thank you, but was oddly sad when he didn't take the seat beside mine. Instead, he took his place on Carlisle's right hand side on the opposite side of the table. From where I sat, it felt like the Cullens were making a united front against me, somehow leaving me feeling alone again even in the presence of so many people. I shrank into my seat with apprehension.

"Bella, I'm not going to disrespect you by trying to convince you that this has all been an illusion and make you think you're insane for what has occurred here." Carlisle's serious expression made me listen intently, even though I felt that his tone signified impending bad news. "I know that you're a bright girl, and I won't pretend that I don't think you are. But, Bella, I must protect my family. So, I'd like to extend a helpful hand to you, but say that I think it's best that today goes unmentioned when you exit our home. For the protection of my family, and _yours_ as well, you must forget what you have witnessed here. Or, if you feel that you can't truly forget, at least promise us that you won't speak of it after this."

I looked down, trying to analyze the meaning of his statement. _Not speak of it after I left?_ I thought, ruefully, realizing the dismal truth behind the doctor's words. _They expect me to go. Of course they wouldn't want me to stay. Just because my sister's here doesn't mean I can just impose on their lives like this…_But no matter how much I tried to convince myself that he was right and that I should just leave, part of me wouldn't listen to any of it.

I could feel my eyes start to water at the prospect of leaving, and I tried desperately to avoid crying in front of these people I didn't know. But, I couldn't stop them. My eyes burned, and I tried to close my eyes to block out the pain but it only intensified. "I know it's terribly rude for me to say this, but I can't keep that promise."

Carlisle looked a little shocked at me, and for the first time he sounded frantic when he spoke. "Bella, you don't understand. If you were to speak of this it would not only put me and my family in danger, but your sister as well. Bella, think of _Alice._"

I flinched painfully when he spoke my sister's name out loud, finally hearing him acknowledge that the adopted girl in his family was my sister. I could feel the anger inside me start to boil to the surface, and as I looked up at the man I met his pleading eyes with a glare. "No, Dr. Cullen, you don't understand. I'm not talking about telling anyone. Not only do I have no one I would want to tell, but I already figured that I shouldn't tell anyone about this. You said yourself that you wouldn't misjudge my intelligence, so don't. Give me some credit before you beg for something I have already concluded myself. What I'm saying is that I can't keep my promise that I will leave. You see, I _can't_ go. Not now. Not when I know my sister is here. You see, I'm _sick_ of having to deal with promises. I was roped into a promise without my consent a long time ago, and so far it has only brought me pain and loneliness. My sister promised she would always watch over me, yet I've felt more lonely and vulnerable than I ever have in my life. Thus far in my experience, promises have only brought me suffering. And finally, you don't have to tell me to _think_ of Alice. All I ever do is _think of Alice._ Sometimes I wish that I didn't think about her—that I could just forget her. My life would be so much easier if I could just erase the pain that thinking of her brought. But then I would remember, before I realized Alice was alive, that Alice was gone. I knew that the only way I could keep her close to me was to remember her, no matter how much it hurt me to do so. I came after Alice so that I could be with her again—so that that wounded part of me would heal and being close to her wouldn't hurt me anymore. I don't want to be in pain anymore."

I took a deep breath after my little speech, and sat back down—realizing I had stood up in the process of my rant. I looked over the Cullens, judging their expressions. The blond one, Rosalie Carlisle had said, looked unimpressed by my speech. The one next to her, the big one named Emmett, looked suddenly very guilty and wouldn't meet my gaze any longer. Edward peered back over at me with that same curiosity that he had before, though the amusement in his features was gone. Carlisle sighed and looked at me, but the most curious expression out of group was that of Carlisle's wife, Esme. She stood up very suddenly, her face looking almost as pained as I felt.

"I can't do this." She whispered to her husband, though the rest of us could hear it clearly. "I can't watch this anymore. You know how I feel about the situation. You all have discussed it, and I have included my input, but I know the final decision is up to Alice. But you know how I feel about this."

Without saying anything more, the woman left the room. Five curious faces followed her out, including my own. I didn't know what had just occurred, but I had the instinctual feeling that she agreed with me on this one. That made me think, however, that the others were not on my side. Carlisle looked up at me with a pained expression as well, looking like he wasn't going to explain his wife's sudden disappearance.

"Bella, I know you love your sister and- don't get me wrong- she very much loves you too. But for her safety as well as yours, I'm sorry, but you can't be together. It's not that we wouldn't want you to stay with us if it were possible, it's just that it's not in either of your best interests." He looked truly sorry, but his words were just empty pleas in my mind. It sounded like this was just Alice speaking through Carlisle, not Carlisle's own opinion.

I sighed in frustration and looked up at the group. "If Alice is going to tell me to leave, I'd prefer she tell me herself."

"I'm very sorry, Bella, but that's not possible."

"Why not?!" I asked, furious now. "My sister has left me on my own, and I always thought that it was just because she had to leave home. I don't blame her for wanting to leave our parents. But me? She always told me how important I was in her life…but now I know that can't be true. If I was so important in her life, she would take advantage of this opportunity to be in her life again. If I was so important to her, she would at least do me the decency of telling me she no longer wants me herself."

Carlisle began to look desperate, but no matter what he said my mind was made up. "Bella, please—"

"Don't be so _ridiculous_." At the voice, I looked up in disbelief. After Carlisle so vehemently explained that Alice couldn't talk to me, there she was. Everyone else, but Edward curiously, seemed surprised by Alice's appearance as well. I looked up at her, finally getting to see her. It was just like that first dream I had had of her—the one where she looked like an angel. Just as I had seen before, her short dark brown hair was no longer or shorter, but had darkened to black. Her eyes weren't milk chocolate anymore, but deep golden topaz like the others. Though none of them looked related, they all had that same things in common—the paleness of their skin and the color of their eyes. She was much shorter than I remembered, but I supposed that was because I had grown a lot in these past two years. She had dark shadows beneath her eyes, and it made me worried about her in spite of my anger. The expression on her face seemed just as unhappy as mine, and in my mind I thought she was frustrated that I was being so stubborn about this.

"Alice?" Carlisle asked, some question I couldn't understand silently spoken.

"I'll be fine, Carlisle." Alice said, never looking away from me while she spoke. "I've seen it. So long as Jasper and Edward are here, nothing will go wrong."

He nodded, and visibly relaxed in his seat. Alice's pained expression met mine for a few moments before I spoke again, "Alice?" I whispered.

"Bella." She said, the softness in her voice betraying the hard exterior she had assumed.

Finally, I couldn't hold my anger any more. Tears started to run from the corners of my eyes, and I suddenly felt like a little girl again in front of my sister. I asked, sounding rather pathetic, "Do you really want me to go?"

"No, of course not." She said, her response sounding saddened as well. She wasn't crying, not that she had ever been much of a crier. But she looked as though she would be crying if she were one to do so. "Why would you _ever_ think that?"

"Because you left me!" I finally said, my cries turning into sobs. "You left me, and didn't want me to find you. But even when we're together again, you're trying to send me away."

"Alice?" Edward asked, the consternation in his voice seemed to be in response to something I hadn't heard. Alice gave him a deliberate look, and the shock on his face didn't fade. After a moment of this, he looked back to me and gave the briefest smile that seemed to be for only my benefit. "If you're sure… I certainly don't have a problem with it."

Alice seemed to realize something at that moment, because sudden recognition flashed across her face. In spite of our serious conversation, she smiled at Edward briefly and gave him another deliberate look. Edward narrowed his eyes in confusion, looked to Alice, then back to me. With another soft smile, he whispered. "I guess we'll see."

The tension in the room significantly lifted, and I seemed to feel happy for no reason at all. I shook my head, so confused with everything that was going on. It seemed almost like Edward, the boy who had spoke to me in the entry way, could read his family's minds or something. Maybe that was just it—maybe they all had super powers or something. Maybe Alice was some sort of super hero in a league of heroes, and didn't want her enemies to find me. I laughed at the ridiculousness of the thought in my mind. Finally, I looked back to Alice with the smallest hint of a smile on my face. "Alice, what's going on?"

"Bella, I'm going to tell you _exactly_ what's going on, but only because I know that you'll be able to handle this much better than I had ever imagined." The other Cullens, except Edward, seemed to tense at her words but after a few moments their tension released. It was a very curious thing to watch, but I was about to get my explanation. "Not only that, but I have found that _I_ could handle this much better than I had imagined."

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**Now, you have to admit, that is definitely not the worst cliffy I have ever had. ^_^ Keep an eye out for Chapter 10- Stronger**


	11. Stronger

**Hello Everyone :)**

**Sorry it's been a couple of weeks, but my editor was uncooperative with this... -_- Not that she didn't like it, she just didn't read it. *Sigh* oh well, so it's rough... but I figured you would rather have a rough chapter than no chapter at all. So, please enjoy! **

**Now, I should tell you that I've had this chapter done for a looong time, so I've been working on my new story that I wrote for the manga Naruto in the down time with this story. The next chapter might be a little slower considering I have yet to write it. I have the first few pages down and some arrant ideas in my mind but nothing solid. I'm having some difficulty with the next chapter. :/ But, I'll do everything I can and get it out as soon as possible.**

**Read and Review!**

**Keep Reading,**

**-TG  
**

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Chapter 10- Stronger

Alice POV

"I didn't expect her to find us so soon." Carlisle muttered. "I believe I am at fault."

"Don't blame yourself, Carlisle." I said, unable to look up into my family's eyes. I hadn't been able to look anyone directly in the eyes for a few hours, seeing as the guilt within me was gripping me so tightly I felt like I should be curled into a ball to whither away. Everything that had happened, the fact that Bella had nearly died everyone had flipped out of control, was entirely my fault. Carlisle had no part in this really. "It wasn't your fault at all. It doesn't matter right now, though. What matters in the situation is what we're going to do about this."

"I still don't see why she can't just stay here!" Emmett added rather unhelpfully. He sounded excited about the idea, and he didn't know how much I sincerely wished his suggestion was possible. But I already knew it was impossible.

"_Emmett,_" Edward said, the tone of his voice sounding harsh when he said it. As cruel as it might be, I was secretly thankful Edward said it so I wouldn't have to. "Shut up. I think you have already done enough here."

"Me?!" Emmett yelled, and I was worried he would wake my unconscious sister in the other room. "Me?! Please, I believe I was the one who remained lucid when all of the rest of you went into frenzy back there. Seriously, Edward, what's your deal? Since when do you flip out at the smell of human blood? I thought you were supposed to be the high-and-mighty, almost to Carlisle status one out of all of us? You're usually the one holding us back, not the one trying to sneak a bite."

Actually, though it was a rather crude way to phrase it, Emmett had proposed a legitimate question. Why _had_ Edward been unable to control himself? It didn't make sense— "I don't know, alright?!" Edward yelled, cutting off my thoughts. He seemed genuinely puzzled by the question as well. "I don't know what came over me! Her blood was just… _different._ I think she may be my, you know—"

"Stop it!" I yelled, unable to talk about my sister's blood anymore. Even if Bella was Edward's "singer," I couldn't see her like that. "Just stop it! This isn't just any human we're talking about here! This is my _sister._ Don't talk about her like that! Don't talk about her like she's just some random bucket of blood that you smell walking down the street! Ugh, you boys are insufferable! And, no, Emmett she can't stay here. Do you realize how hard this is for me as it is _without_ having my own sister here? God, how can you be so dense?" I was being even harsher than Edward, but I didn't have time for sympathy. Not when my sister was in the next room, and would be conscious at any moment.

"Aw, come on sis! Don't be like that—" Emmett pleaded, but- by this point- all of us were fed up.

"Shut up, Emmett!" We all yelled in unison. Even Rosalie joined in, only proving that the tension and frustration in the air was getting to great to handle.

We all suddenly heard motion in the other room, and froze in place listening. We could all tell that she had woken up, and a silent feeling of dread crept up on me. Bella might be conscious, but we had yet to come to a decision. I had no clue what was going to happen, and I had run out of time again. I looked over the group, and begged in a hushed tone. "Someone please go stall her until we figure this thing out."

Rosalie finally added a bitter comment, as I had been expecting. "You want one of _us_ to entertain your human?"

"I'll do it!" Emmett chimed in, though he was instantly ignored. We all knew I wasn't going to let Emmett be alone with my sister. I shuttered at the very idea.

"Well, it's not like Jasper or I can do it!" Realizing how loudly I was speaking, I tried to subdue my tone. "Carlisle, why don't you go talk—"

"I'll do it." I looked over in shock to see Edward's pondering expression. He wasn't really paying much attention to the conversation, instead thinking intently to himself. "I'd like to meet your sister if that's alright."

"No!" I yelled once again. "There's no way! I'm sorry, Edward, but I can't let you do that! This is my sister, and obviously you have some sort of weakness when it comes to her specifically, so I can't let you go out there and be _alone_ with her."

"I can control myself Alice. I was caught off guard before, now I know to be wary around her. Besides, it's not her blood that makes me curious about her. I think your sister may be different for another reason…" He trailed off mysteriously.

"What do you mean, Edward?" Carlisle asked, and I could tell that they had that intrigue in their voice that was present whenever a new anomaly surfaced.

"I can't _hear_ her." He looked up at us, and there were a few gasped _whats _emitted from my family in shock. I was in shock myself. "I realized a little while ago that I wasn't picking up on any of her thoughts. I thought I just wasn't paying attention, but when I tried to tune in to her, I got nothing. Even now, I can hear her moving around in the next room, but there are no thoughts coming from her. I sincerely doubt she's literally _thoughtless_, seeing as even babies think of pictures and things, so I assume she must be immune to my powers. I would really like to talk to her in person."

"Edward, please don't make me do this!" I yelled again, even though I was curious as well. Bella was immune to Edward's powers? But still, I had to protect my sister—and suddenly Edward was a threat to her. "I can't let you, or anyone else for that matter, who is so likely to hurt my sister go anywhere near her!"

"Don't you trust me?" He asked, the begrudging tone of his voice instantly making me regret my words. I must have offended him somehow.

"Of course I trust you; you're my brother." I said, the tone softening.

"Then let me do this. I promise you I will not harm your sister. That is the very last thing I'd ever want to do. She just intrigues me, and I'd very much like to get to know her." He sounded perfectly honest, and- just to be sure- I looked forward in time to make sure. What I saw was Edward and Bella sitting at the piano, playing music and talking harmlessly. I blinked in confusion for a moment, knowing I had seen that amused smile on his face before. As I thought of where I had seen that look previously, I immediately stopped myself from thinking about it—not wanting to reveal that previous vision to him. He had seen my vision as well, and was giving me a look to say _See? I told you so._

I sighed, knowing I had lost this battle. "Alright. Distract her. We'll figure this out here then."

With a crooked smile back at me, he got up and left the room. We all listened as Bella began to tinker with Edward's piano, and Edward approached her, making the tinkering stop suddenly. Satisfied that they'd be alright for now, we returned to our conversation.

"It pains me to say this, but Bella can't stay here. It's too dangerous for her." I concluded, always listening distractedly to the music that had started in the entry way.

"Alright then." Carlisle said. "Would you like me to be the one to tell her?"

"Yes please." I said, feeling that familiar tightening in my chest that told me I was crying. I knew this would hurt her, and I hated myself for doing it. I couldn't do this to her though. I _couldn't_ put Bella in anymore danger.

"What would you like me to say?" He asked, with a light tone that told me that I didn't have to rush this. I had time to think for a moment—Carlisle was granting me that much. I was grateful for the moment, but I didn't need to think about this. I had convincing myself that this was best for two years; I had the arguments already made in my mind.

"Make sure she knows that we can help her, but she can't stay here. She has to be somewhere where she is safe, and that's not here. Don't try to convince her that what she saw earlier was just a part of her imagination, but don't be completely honest. Just let her know that not speaking of this is for the sake of her own safety and mine as well." As I spoke, the words came out in a monotone. There was no inflection of my voice to betray emotion, seeing as I couldn't honestly say I wanted to believe any of that. But, like I had convinced myself time and time again, I had to believe this. I had to believe that this was what was best for her—if I faltered, it would only mean the worst for my sister.

"Ok, I can do that." Carlisle stated, but I could tell he was not finished speaking. "Alice, you know you don't have to do this. We can figure out a way for you two to be together, and you doubt how strong you are. I know you, Alice, and I have a pretty good idea of what Bella is like now. Are you sure you don't want to try to fix this, let the pieces fall where they may?"

"No." I said, absolutely resolute now. "My sister's a human. If the pieces don't fall in her favor, that's it for her. She's fragile—too fragile. This life isn't right for her."

"Ok, so if she's so fragile, why don't you just change her now?" Emmett added, sounding a little dejected from his previous denials.

"_Absolutely not._" I growled, the sound coming from deep within my chest. That was a ridiculous suggestion, and I wouldn't even consider it. My sister would _not_ have her mortality taken away—I would make sure of that, no matter what. If all else failed, I would make sure Bella remained living: and that meant that she would be a mortal human. "I won't even consider that."

I looked over the group of vampires, the ones who were my family, and- by their expressions- could tell that both Emmett and Carlisle both thought the same thing. They both thought that she should be changed, but it didn't matter to me. This was _my _sister, and I would not let that happen. Rosalie looked expectably bored and offended. Esme, however, looked bothered by something. When I looked at her, she met my gaze with the same bothered look.

"If I may…" She asked quietly, and I nodded for her to continue. I had a feeling that she would have a problem with this whole ordeal, seeing as she considered family to be the highest priority. "I know it's not my place to help determine the fate of your sister, but I must say I don't agree with this. Alice, this is your sister we're talking about, and I have a feeling that, no matter who you have become, she'll still accept you in your life. You have an opportunity here that most immortals would kill for—the chance to hold on to your real family, and not have to watch them die away while you live on. We've all had to do that, but you're the first who has the opportunity to change the pattern. Trust me, Alice, you'll regret this later on in your existence if you pass up this chance now. This is your chance to maintain the relationship you had with your sister. She seems like a lovely girl from what I've heard, and we wouldn't mind having her as a part of our family. Not only that, but she could be the element that finally helps you overcome your vulnerability to human blood."

"Thank you, Esme." I finally conceded, knowing how passionate she felt about keeping family together. I didn't want to offend my adoptive mother, but this was something we would not agree on. "And I'm sorry, but I can not take my sister's life away from her unnaturally—not from premature death nor transformation to our life. I will see to it that she lives a long, happy life, has lots of children, and dies of old age. She deserves everything her human life will give her. I know her, and she'd probably not hesitate to join this life if it meant staying with me, but she's too young. She wouldn't know what she'd be giving up."

"I understand." Esme said, though I could tell that she still had that deeply rooted hope that I would change my mind.

"Alright then." Carlisle finally said. "Are you ready?"

I knew what he was asking, so I nodded; but I also knew that I would never be ready for this. I would never be ready to hurt my sister, to send her away from me when we were so close. This was just something I _had _to do—I wasn't ready for it, and I didn't want it. "As ready as I'll ever be. Jasper and I will be around, in the other rooms, listening in."

With that, we all got up. I stayed there for a few minutes, listening as the music coming from the entry way halted and Carlisle began to introduce the others to my sister. I closed my eyes, thinking of a world where I could introduce my family to Bella myself. I thought of an alternate reality where I could show her how great these people were, and I could show them how great my sister was. Instead, they were experiencing some bitter sweet introduction: a prelude to goodbye.

"Bella, if you'd like to come with us, we can talk in the other room and answer any… questions you might have." I heard Carlisle say, and I took that as my cue to leave the dining room. Jasper took my hand and led me into the next room. We moved to the living room to settle in and listen, but as soon as we made it to the room I was hit with Bella's scent. I paused and inhaled, unable to stop myself. I closed my eyes, bracing myself for the frenzy that the scent of humans would bring. I waited for it, bracing myself to abate the monster within me. It wasn't the sudden onslaught of frenzy that surprised me, however. After a moment of panic, it was the inner peace that surprised me. I stopped, opened my eyes in shock, and sniffed the air once again. The smell had completely permeated the air since Bella had been here for an extended period of time, and when I had inhaled, that smell had travelled down my throat, making it burn painfully. But, when I stopped to figure out what had happened, I realize that nothing actually had. I stood there dumbly, trying to figure out why I wasn't going crazy with thirst. The smell made my throat burn, yes, but it wasn't intolerable.

"Alice?" Jasper inquired, seeing my odd display and sensing my confusion. I moved closer to the couch, where the smell was more concentrated, slowly and deliberately. Jasper followed me as I walked to the couch with timid footsteps, sniffing the air as I got closer. When I made it to the couch, I sat down hesitantly. Finally, I inhaled deeply, allowing the smell to invade my nostrils and burn my throat more. Even then, nothing happened. I was still completely in control. It was almost as if being immersed in the scent was making it easier and easier to be around. With a sudden spark of realization, I jumped up and followed the scent to its next strongest source, the piano bench. I sat down on the piano bench next to Jasper, who had followed me there as well. I took another deep inhale, taking in the more and more concentrated air. Every time I took another breath, the burning got easier to bear. It was like convincing yourself to immerse your entire body in a freezing pool. Diving in all at once was fast, but painful and torturous. If you went in a little at a time, the process was slow but your body would slowly adapt to the pain.

"Alice?" Jasper said again. "What's the matter?"

I smiled a little, taking in another deep breath as I did so. "Nothing." I replied, looking down and focusing more on my breathing. "I'm stronger than I thought I was."

Jasper chuckled and rubbed my back comfortingly. "I believe we've all been trying to tell you that for some time now."

"I know." I replied, chuckling softly but feeling like I should cry with relief. I was within the range of a human, and I wasn't becoming a monster.

"So…" He continued. "What do you plan on doing about this new information?"

I looked up in shock, realizing something I hadn't thought was possible. "I don't know what—" I began, but halfway through my sentence I was cut off by a sudden vision.

_Vision_

_There was nothing particularly amazing about the scene in my vision at first glance. A family gathered around a television screen together, watching a movie from various positions on the couches, chair, and the floor. They chatted aimlessly about the movie of their fixation: some criticizing and some complimenting what they were watching. What was particularly special about this scene however, was the family which the vision was centered around. It was my family…and, upon further inspection, I realized that miraculously it was my _entire_ family._

_On the loveseat, Carlisle and Esme sat comfortably talking to each other. In the chair to the right of them sat Emmett, and- on his lap- Rosalie. On the couch, Jasper sat with me on the floor in front of him. I leaned back against his knees, not talking but smiling peacefully. I suppose that the reason I was so happy and content was not only the fact that I was sitting in front of the love of my life, but because, beside us on the couch, sat my sister, Bella. She was blushing and beautiful as always, which meant that she was perfectly human. She was human, and she was with me and my adoptive family. This was more like a scene out of my deepest desires, and not out of my visions of the future. _

_Before I lost sight of the vision, I took one more glance back at my sister and noticed something I hadn't caught before. Not only was she sitting beside Jasper and I, but by Edward as well. Not only was she sitting beside him though, she was leaning against him. She talked to Jasper and I pleasantly, not seeming at all fazed by the fact that my adoptive brother had his arm around her. In fact, there was nothing odd at all about this sight, even though I had never seen them interact before. The way they were around each other looked completely natural—as if they were meant to be around each other. They fit together so seamlessly, they were like two pieces of a puzzle. Edward looked down to Bella admiringly, not speaking more than a few comments every now and then. He wasn't watching the movie much either. He seemed much more interested in looking at Bella. For the second time ever, I saw a look on Edward's face that I saw frequently on Jasper's, Emmett's, and Carlisle's faces. Again, Edward looked completely content—as if the girl of his fixation was all he needed in his life to keep him living. Except now, I could actually see the girl he was looking at this way. _

_And that girl was my sister._

_End vision_

I gasped, not quite sure what to make of that vision. There was no way that could have been right, could it? Bella had been interacting with my family as if it were normal and not a novelty from my dreams. Could she really stay with us? And Edward was going to fall in love with her? All of this was just a little too much to consider at once.

"What did you see?" Jasper asked after he realized I was no longer in a dazed trance.

I smiled knowingly, and pulled his hand so he would follow me off the piano bench. "You'll see." I said, trying to test the theory I had just thought of.

As I moved closer and closer to the dining room, Bella's scent got stronger. I breathed it in deeply, only grimacing slightly with the pain. After a few moments, it dwindled to a controllable level and I tried not to let the pain affect my expression.

I listened in to the conversation, just in time to hear Bella speak about me. "…I came after Alice so that I could be with her again—so that that wounded part of me would heal and being close to her wouldn't hurt me anymore. I don't want to be in pain anymore."

I sighed, listening to what she said. I could relate to her feeling. I didn't want to be in pain anymore either, and I had assumed it was an inevitable part of this life. But, as I could see, I might not be able to rid myself of the pain, but I could ease it. I could withstand the pain until it was tolerable. Even now, with Bella in the next room and her scent filling the air all around me, I wasn't out of control. I was in just as much pain as Bella was, though it was for different reasons. It made me think that- if I could make my own pain tolerable- I could at least ease hers, if not appease it all together. I listened in again, only to realize that Esme had stood up.

"I can't do this." I heard her whisper to Carlisle, and I realized this was about what she had said earlier. It broke her heart to see my sister being pushed away like this. It made me only happier that I was already decided on this alternate option. "I can't watch this anymore. You know how I feel about the situation. You guys have discussed it, and I have included my input, but I know the final decision is up to Alice. But you know how I feel about this."

As Esme exited the room, I looked at her with a grave, serious expression. From the way she hunched over as she walked outside the room, I could tell she was crying in the only way she could, and the guilt for making her do this gripped at me. "Esme," I murmured, and she looked over at me as if she hadn't realized I was there.

"Oh, Alice, I'm sorry…" She whispered back.

"No," I interrupted her, and walking over her to give her a hug. She graciously received the embrace, and buried her face in my shoulder. "I'm sorry, Esme. This is enitirely my fault."

She tried to abate my guilt, but I wouldn't let her try to comfort me. "No, sweetie, it's not—"

"You shouldn't worry." I said, looking into her eyes as I spoke. "It's all going to be alright. I've seen it."

"What?" She asked, the surprise replacing the sorrow in her eyes. For a moment, the hope for another possibility was reignited within her.

"Make sure you're ok." I said, starting to make my way toward the door of the dining room. "Come back in when you're ready. You'll be happy to know that I've changed my mind."

"Oh, Alice." This time, Esme looked as if she would cry from happiness. I gave her a smile before I turned back towards the door.

I listened in to the conversation before I would enter the room. I listened in to hear Bella argue to the others, "…I always thought that it was just because she had to leave home. I don't blame her for wanting to leave our parents. But me? She always told me how important I was in her life…but now I know that can't be true. If I was so important in her life, she would take advantage of this opportunity for me to be in her life again. If I was so important to her, she would at least do me the decency of telling me she no longer wants me herself."

"Bella, please—"As Carlisle began to argue, I couldn't take it anymore. I entered the room, with Jasper in tow, and interrupted what he was about to say. I couldn't believe my Sister actually thought I didn't want her there. That was the last thing I wanted, and I couldn't understand why she would ever think that.

"Don't be so _ridiculous_." I said, the tone of my voice coming out harsher than I had anticipated. I didn't mean to be angry with my sister, but how could I not be when she was being so absurd? It bothered me that she would ever think that I wouldn't _want_ her, and I'm sure I looked about as unhappy as I felt. Though I wasn't happy, my feeling ebbed when I was able to look at Bella for the first real time in two years. I had already seen how she had changed in the past two years through my visions, but I hadn't been able to get a good look at her up until now. Looking at her, I suddenly thought of the picture that was almost always on my person. Back in our days in Texas, Jasper had found that picture for me amongst my human things. It was my most prized material possession, seeing as it had been the only thing I had to connect me back to my human life and my sister. The reason I had been reminded of this was because, looking at Bella again, I was suddenly reminded of my human self. She had grown to look like I had when I had been human. She had the same chocolate brown hair I had once had, though hers was longer, and the same chocolate brown eyes, which were replaced with gold in my case. We had had the same heart-shaped face, before mine had become more angular and defined. Her cheeks were pink, from her constant blushing, but it wasn't her blood that that I fixated on as I scrutinized her appearance—It was how much she had grown up in my absence. She was so beautiful to me that she could have easily compared with any vampire I had ever seen.

"Alice?" Carlisle asked, breaking me from my reverie. I realized he was asking how my condition was in such close proximity to a human. My throat burned incessantly and venom pooled in my mouth, but over all I was doing well. I could bear all of that as long as it meant that this could work.

"I'll be fine, Carlisle." I said, looking at my sister as I spoke. I really was fine, and though I hadn't actually had a vision about this, I told him I had. "I've seen it. So long as Jasper and Edward are here, nothing will go wrong."

I met Bella's gaze as she looked back at me, her pained expression matching my own. "Alice?" She whispered.

"Bella." I said, and I was unable to make my tone as frustrated as I felt with my sister.

I didn't think I'd be able to control myself as she broke down, tears pouring from her eyes as she spoke. "Do you really want me to go?"

"No, of course not." I felt the familiar ache that told me I was crying as well. It broke my already still heart to see my sister cry. "Why would you _ever_ think that?"

"Because you left me!" She broke into hysterics, and every word she spoke was like another sharp dagger piercing into my chest. "You left me, and didn't want me to find you. But even when we're together again, you're trying to send me away."

_That's it,_ I thought unable to stand hurting her anymore. _I'm not letting her go anywhere. _

"Alice?" Edward asked, in response to my thoughts.

_I've changed my mind. _I thought directly to Edward. _I can't let my sister go anywhere. Not when she's already with me. She can handle this, I know it, and now I realize I can handle this too. _I showed him a brief flash of the vision I had seen earlier. I watched him look over at my sister, and smile. "If you're sure…" He replied to my thoughts. "I certainly don't have a problem with it."

I realized suddenly that Edward hadn't seen the part of the vision of them together, and I projected that thought towards him. _Edward, _I asked in my mind. _Are you falling for my sister?_ I looked at his confused stare, an amused smile lighting my face. I had never seen my brother act _bashful_ for any particular reason, and I could already tell that my visions hadn't lied: he was totally falling for her, and they hadn't even known each other for more than a few hours. With a final embarrassed grin at my thoughts, he said, "I guess we'll see."

I felt Jasper behind me suddenly use his power to release the tension in the room. Everyone, besides Rosalie, seemed to loosen up considerably, and I even saw Bella smile. Finally, she asked, "Alice, what's going on?"

This was it. I was finally going to see if my new theory was correct: I would see if Bella would handle this as well as I thought she would. "Bella, I'm going to tell you _exactly_ what's going on, but only because I know that you'll be able to handle this much better than I had ever imagined." Everyone besides Edward tensed at the thought, and I realized they didn't know my plans. "Not only that, but I have found that _I_ could handle this much better than I had imagined."

Carlisle must have asked the obvious question, because Edward nodded towards him. Carlisle smiled at me and looked prouder than I had ever seen him in my case. This was good. This meant I had his support, and I already knew I had Esme's, Edward's, Jasper's, and Emmett's as well. And, if everyone else wanted Bella to stay, then Rosalie's opinion didn't exactly matter.

"Bella," I began, finally taking a place behind Edward's seat as I settled in to explain. "This is going to be a little confusing and hard to explain, so please bear with me. If this works out like I've seen it will, we won't have to stay apart any more.'

Bella's eyes slowly grew wide in shock, as if she couldn't comprehend what I had just said. "Alice, are you being serious? Whatever I need to do, just tell me. I'll do anything if I can stay with you."

I smiled down at my sister where she sat across from me, and I hoped from the bottom of my dead heart that she would take this as well as I thought she would. "Of course I'm being serious about this, Bella. I wouldn't kid about this. I want this to work just as much as you do, if not more. Just listen first, and then if you have any doubts or questions don't hesitate to ask." She nodded, seeming eager to agree to my request. I took this as my cue to continue. "I guess I'll start then by telling you that the world as you know it will change from here on out."

She looked confused for a moment, but she nodded slowly telling me to continue. I smiled reassuringly at her, and thought for a moment how it would be best to start. "I guess I should explain myself from the very beginning then… Do you remember that night where we watched all those movies and fell asleep crying to Titanic?"

I smiled recalling one of the few memories I had saved from my human life, seeing as it not only included Bella but had been so close to my transformation. At the mention of the odd memory, I received a few chuckles from Edward and Emmett, who were probably imagining me crying to chick-flicks back in my human days. Bella chuckled ruefully, and looked at me. "Of course I remember. That was the week you went missing."

At that, the light atmosphere died down and seemed to be weighed down by the seriousness of Bella's statement. "Yes," I said. "That was the week I disappeared. I'm sorry for that, but- at the time- I didn't really know what was going to happen. If you remember, I had a vision that night… I told you it was about my upcoming shopping adventure…."

With a flicker of recognition, her expression darkened. "That vision wasn't about shopping." It hadn't been a question, but a statement.

I nodded to confirm her thought, and continued. "I had had a vision about you getting hurt when we went to the city. There was a girl, not much older than I had been at the time, or so it seemed. She… _attacked_ you. I didn't know what she did, I just saw you… dead in my vision." She gasped, and I looked up to make sure I hadn't shocked her beyond repair yet. "Yes, that's why I really told you not to come with me. Luckily, you would do anything to get out of shopping, so it wasn't that difficult to convince you not to go. I couldn't let you get hurt, Bella, but for some reason… I knew I had to go. There was something drawing me to the city, to the object of my vision. I didn't know what it had been until I was actually there. I had been distracted the whole day, only able to focus enough on shopping to get your outfit before I made my way to the alley from my vision. I left your things in my car and practically ran to the alley. When I was there however, I was followed by some men. I was backed up into the alley way, when it happened."

I looked around, seeing everyone's eyes on me as though I was telling an engrossing story. Bella looked worried, but not afraid. This was a good thing. "Just when I had no way to escape, something suddenly attacked my pursuers… or, should I say, someone. There were four people, three women and a man." At this, I looked subtly to Jasper, who seemed to be grimacing at the reminder of how we met. "They had killed the four men who had followed me, right before my eyes. I witnessed four people being killed, but somehow I wasn't afraid of their killers. At the time I was just grateful that I wasn't dead for the moment. Not only that, but there was something very different about them: they were incredibly fast and strong and- above all else- beautiful. The three women's names were Nettie, Lucy, and Maria. But the one who really held my attention was the man. And his name was Jasper Whitlock."

Bella blinked in surprise, and looked from me to Jasper behind me. "Jasper?" She asked, and I wasn't surprised she had caught on so quickly. She didn't seem afraid of him, just curious.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Bella. It's nice to finally meet the sister Alice has always told me so much about." Jasper smiled at my sister, and she blushed in response. I chuckled at her, able to relate with how charming male vampires could be. I smiled at the thought, and Jasper took my hand with his for support as I started again.

"Yes, that's right," I continued, able to smile from the combined efforts of recalling some pleasant memories and the effect of Jasper's power. "This is Jasper, Bella. I've wanted to introduce you to him for a very long time now. So like I was saying, Jasper is the one who had killed the men who were going to hurt me. I didn't know how he had done it at the time—I just knew that there was something different about him, and that- whether it was dangerous or not- I was drawn to him in some odd way."

Knowing I was about to reveal the key part of the story, I looked to make sure Bella was alright with the information so far. When I spoke the last phrase, I saw her very briefly glance toward Edward as if she could relate to that feeling of the draw of someone dangerous. In concerned me a little, but I continued nonetheless. "One of the women, Maria, was curious about me. She liked interesting people, and she was greedy for my odd gift. She tried to scare me, which she probably could have done easily if I wasn't in shock. She ran at impossible speeds and her eyes were blood red. And when I questioned it, she revealed to me that she was a vampire."

I paused for a moment, looking as Bella's eyes widened. Nothing else besides that, however, happened, so I took this as a good sign. "Of course, I didn't believe her at first… but then I realized that I had to believe her. What other explanation was there? She was pale, red eyed, and she had just attacked and fed from the men who were going to probably kill me. I soon realized that Maria, Lucy, Nettie, and Jasper were _all_ vampires. The one I had seen in my vision had been Nettie. Unable to control herself, she attacked me."

Bella gasped again, but nodded to signal for me to continue. With a quick breath, which burned my throat as a simple reminder of what I was about to inform her, I finally said it. "I was bitten, Bella."

"Which would make you…" She said, unable to look straight at me as she seemed to process this information in shock. "A vampire." She finally breathed the word, as if it were a great feat to say it.

The tension in the room seemed to grow to an unbearable level as the silence stretched between us. After a while, Jasper calmed us all so we could think properly. Eventually, she looked at me and said definitively. "Alright."

I blinked in shock and looked at her like she was crazy. "Alright?" I said, incredulously. "That's all you have to say about that little bit of information? _Alright?_ You don't have anything else to say, or any questions?"

She thought for another moment, before turning deliberately to Carlisle. "Actually I do have some questions. Don't laugh—but how can you come out during the daytime?"

My family and I couldn't help it—we laughed anyway. Unlike their amused laughter, however, mine was of relief. I laughed an awkward, relieved gasp that my sister was acting so normal about this. It was like I had just told her that I had decided to become vegetarian, and not that I was a vampire. Realizing no one had answered Bella's question, Edward finally supplied, "Myth."

"Burned by the sun?" She added.

"Myth."

"Sleeping in coffins?" She asked, a bit of disgust in her voice.

Edward chuckled and answered again. "Myth. We can't sleep."

She blinked rapidly and asked incredulously, "Not at all?"

"Never." He said quietly, his amused smile never leaving his face as he gazed at my sister.

"You haven't asked us the most important question." Emmett said, with a mischievous look on his face. I wouldn't have been worried, only I heard the almost inaudible growl emit from Edward's chest as he heard what Emmett was thinking. At Bella's confused look, Emmett added. "What do we eat?"

"Oh. _That._" She said, and suddenly all the color drained from her face. I glared at Emmett.

Before she got the wrong idea, I told the truth. "We drink the blood of animals. We _try_ not to be monsters, if we can help it."

"_Oh._" She said, her posture visibly relaxing at the comment. "That's good."

I shook my head in amazement. How could she be taking this so coolly? Even I hadn't expected her to be this ok with everything that we had thrown at her. I met her chocolate eyes and whispered. "Bella, doesn't this bother you at all?"

She looked up at me, then looked down and smiled. "It would," She said. "Only… I had prepared myself for this. I had the feeling there was something different about you—something you wouldn't want me to know. However, I decided a while ago that it didn't matter."

"_It doesn't matter?_" Edward and I exclaimed at the exact same time. I looked over at him quickly, wondering why he was as appalled at the idea as I was.

"Nope." She said, that bright smile lighting her face as she looked at us. "It doesn't matter to me who or what you are. I'm just beside myself with happiness that I finally have you back."

As she looked up at me, I just shook my head in amazement. _My sister is incredible…_I thought in wonder.

"You can think that again." Edward whispered just loud enough for me to hear it over his shoulder.

* * *

**Sooooo... what did you think? ^_^ I liked writing this chapter, seeing as I finally (after more than 30 chapters apart!) brought Alice and Bella back together! Yaaaay.... ^_^ As you could see, I wanted to make Bella's reaction as in character as possible so I took some of her responses from "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer, all rights are hers for that part (and of course the characters belong to her too)... Hahaha, I really fail at disclaimers XD**


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